April DNA Meeting Notes

Meeting notes from the April DNA Meeting provided by Miles Groves:

Our primary discussion leader was Neil Albert, Deputy Mayor for Economic Development and Planning. He covered the breadth of public space development across downtown including the convention center hotel, CityCenterDC, The Arts at 5th and I, Franklin School, and the Louis Dreyfus 395 air rights project. In short, despite the slowdown, we have a lot of development activity in the pipeline.

Neil shared that our city economy is in good shape, especially when compared with neighboring Virginia and Maryland and we continue to benefit from lots of development. He discussed the mayor’s commitment to no tax increases, buttressed by efforts to reduce overhead by 15 percent and a focus on efficiencies. He noted that city government had been growing at an unsustainable rate of 8 to 11 percent over the past decade. Among the projects discussed:

• The Convention Center Hotel, funded by $152 million in Tax Increment Funding dollars will not be completed until 2012. In order to be competitive, our convention center must have the hotel.
  
• CityCenterDC is moving forward and the deputy mayor was 85 percent sure that we would have a ground breaking this year. (Ed note: Albert said after the Washington Kastles tennis season)
  
• The Arts at 5th & Eye negotiations continue between the developer group and the city. The deputy mayor was 99.75 percent sure that an agreement would close and that the project would go forward.
  
• He acknowledged our interest in the development of the Franklin School property. There will be a request for expressions of interest (RFEI) going out soon to help the city review possible uses for this property before any formal RFP process begins. He promised to engage downtown residents in the process as it goes forward.
  
• The Louis Dreyfus project puts a top on highway 395 with mixed-use development including commercial, retail, and residential uses included. They had shared at an earlier ANC meeting plans to locate the Jewish Historical building to the west lawn of The Building Museum, a plan that DNA had objected too. He shared that they would prepare the new location and that there would be no intermediate temporary location.

Note: Hyperlink markup is from me, not Miles

Franklin School RFO

As discussed by Neil Albert at the April DNA Meeting, it is expected that a Request for Expressions of Interest (RFEI) will soon be issued for the Franklin School. The building had been used as an emergency homeless shelter the last several years until the Mayor ended the program late last fall. I've found that there was a Request for Offers (RFO) issued on April 9th for the property to be reused as a Charter School.

Photo from flickr user (army.arch)

History of the building from www.adolph-cluss.de.

Franklin School
13th and K Streets, NW
Constructed in 1869

By 1869 the modern school building was again redefined by Adolf Cluss in his design of the Franklin School on the corner of 13th Street and K Street, Northwest. Franklin was the grandest building of all the schools, meant to house not only all grades at the time, but the offices of the Superintendent (this office created in 1869) and the Board of Trustees (Education), as well. Franklin also housed the first Normal School for white students.

The massive Great Hall at Franklin functioned as a community resource for concerts and other special events. Alexander Graham Bell successfully tested his new invention, the photophone (sound transmitted by light waves), from the rooftop of Franklin School in 1880.

The building’s 19th-century façade - including a bust of Benjamin Franklin - is an eloquent expression of principles of public education in post-Civil America. The exterior of Franklin was restored in 1992 and is on the National Register of Historic Places. The interior, however, remains largely as it was when the building was closed decades ago. Stanley Jackson, Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development, announced on March 10, 2005 that the Franklin School will be re-developed by the District-based Western Development Corp. and Jarvis Corp. as a boutique hotel.(Ed note: Seems the building has been down the RFEI path unsuccessfully before)

The new 25-page 2009 RFO (PDF) can presently be found on the district's website.

April DNA Meeting

See the below description from Miles Groves of the agenda for the Downtown Neighborhood Association meeting on Tuesday, April 14th. The meeting starts at 6:30PM at Calvary Baptist Church in Chinatown located at 733 8th Street NW.

April Meeting

PSA 101W Meeting
We recently learned that the Guardian Angels have been patrolling our neighborhood with new members from Gallery Place joining their ranks. We followed up with both First District Commander Kamperin and learned that they work with this group, just as they work with other neighborhood watch groups across the city. After contacting our own MPD Lt. Craig Royal, we invited the Washington DC Director of Operations, John Ayala join us for our April meeting. This is an opportunity to learn more about this group and their involvement in our neighborhood.

Development Plans: Deputy Mayor Neil Albert
This should be an interesting meeting for all residential stakeholders to attend. We have Neil Albert, Deputy Mayor for Economic Development and Planning, attending as our key discussion leader. His agency is responsible for many ongoing projects that directly impact our neighborhood. Not only is he responsible for finding affordable housing for the placement of our homeless population, he is key in the determination of the disposition of public space for private development. Some of this includes the CityCenterDC project at the old convention center site with residential, retail, and commercial, The Arts, a project planned of the corner of 5th and Eye Streets NW that will include gallery space, restaurant, hotel, and residential, and the Louis Dreyfus I-395 Air Rights project that will include commercial and residential buildings. In addition, we have urged the Mayor to consider alternatives for the use of the Franklin School building. So, this will be the meeting to attend to learn about neighborhood developments.

Iron Horse Cafe
We have a new restaurant coming to our neighborhood, the Iron Horse Cafe, that will open near the corner of 7th and E Streets below the Terrell Place condominiums in January. It will be a Tavern with food, darts, billiards, and a juke box for music. Kurt Large, the owner will join us to discuss the Iron Horse concept. He is also one of the owners of Rocket Bar on 7th Street across from Gallery Place.

New Web Site Design
If you have not checked it out, go to our site www.dcdna.org. It now includes an editorial blog section commenting on neighborhood issues.

Note: Hyperlink markup is from me, not Miles

Tick Tock Tick Tock - UPDATED!!

I had heard last week that the selection for 5th and Eye could be announced today. DMPED has made their recommendation to Mayor Fenty late last week. Hopefully the choice will fall in line with the community endorsement.

UPDATE (9/18/2008 12:45pm):

The Mayor of the District of Columbia will announce the winning development team for the 5th & I Project tomorrow morning at 10:30 at the site. The Mayor’s office will distribute a press release following the event. Your attendance at the press event would be greatly appreciated.

I cannot attend. If anyone does please report back. If you can take a snapshot too that would be super awesome!

Friday Roundup

A roundup of some news in our hood:

• The ODMPED has pushed back the BAFO date for the 5th and Eye project from July 18th to August 18th. This is second time it's been pushed back a month. (note: BAFO = Best and Final Offer)
  
• The Papa Johns at 313 H Street NW has been open over a week is now open. It is a carryout and delivery location but online ordering it not yet enabled.
  
• Si Kailian commented earlier in the week that a UPS Store sign is now on the east end of the Penzance Building. I've confirmed and have a snapshot below.

My initial response which I left as a reply comment to a Si's comment was this:

I don't think I can muster up any enthusiasm for a UPS store in the Penzance building. I think it certainly won't occupy more than the East end of the building. But this space with it's glass facade and huge front patio needs retail that will engage the streetscape. The UPS store could have went into the vacant retail spaces at Mass Court or 400 Mass and still been in the same locale without claiming a space they'll never untap the full potential from.

I still feel the potential of the patio is wasted by the UPS Store. But visiting the site again I did see that the East end of the building does not have the same 20-25 foot ceilings as the West End. So that corner of the building is distinctly different than the west end.

WBJ: Mount Vernon Triangle renaissance takes shape

The Washington Business Journal published an article on Friday by staff reporter Melissa Castro entitled: Mount Vernon Triangle renaissance takes shape.

Castro recapped some history of the area and recent news items shared by Bill McLeod, executive director of the Mount Vernon Triangle CID.

The remaining businesses along that strip of Fifth Street are eager to sell, pending D.C.'s award of a city-owned 20,600-square- foot parcel at Fifth and Eye streets. Four teams have bid on the lot, including Donohoe Development Co. and The JBG Cos.

JBG also has offered to buy and restore the nearby Capital Automotive and a decaying Victorian building on Eye Street, McLeod said. It would build a 230-room hotel, 227 residential units and 44,000 square feet of retail, including an entertainment venue. Other bidders have proposed a mix of hip boutique hotels and residential buildings.

The city is expected to announce the award on July 18, said Clint Jackson, project manager for the Office of Planning and Economic Development.

I do have more recent news on the timeframes on 5th and Eye straight from Donohoe. As it stands now, the “best & final offer” deadline has been pushed back to July 18th, with the award announcement now August 1. Good news from a neighborhood perspective is that the city stated to developers that improvement of the triangle park and of 5th street are priorities, and asks that all final responses explain how they'll improve those 2 areas.

The article stats that 455 Mass Ave (aka the Penzance Building) has signed agreements with 3 tenants. Hopefully the first floor restaurant space can find a tenant later this year.

In the past month, three office leases totaling 16,500 square feet were signed at 455 Massachusetts Ave. NW, a 250,000-square- foot building developed and owned by ASB Capital Management LLC and The Penzance Cos., said David Bevirt, whose Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. team is handling leasing. Affordable housing law firm Reno & Cavanaugh PLLC will take more than 11,000 square feet. The remainder of the building is available.

Lastly, because I know how much MBG enjoys discussions of our parks, I have one more snippet:

While beautifying a tiny concrete-covered park at Fifth Street and New York Avenue NW, Lowe Enterprises Inc. spent $300,000 to dig up the concrete slabs by hand to protect the root system of a 120-year-old oak tree across from its burgeoning City Vista project.

DCMud interview with Neil Albert

Deputy Mayor for Planning Economic Development Neil Albert recently sat down with DCMud to discuss the latest RFPs, affordable housing, and why he thinks DC can shed its monumental, federal skin and become an full-fledged international city.

Albert prominently mentions 5th and Eye and City Vista in the interview. Is City Vista 20-30% affordable housing?

ANC 6C endorsement for 5th and I

Last night ANC 6C held a special meeting to further discuss the 5th and I development proposals. Attendees included the full set of 6C commissioners, Clint Jackson from the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development (ODMPED), community residents and some members of the development team also attended merely to silently take in feedback.

Upon entry to the meeting each attendee was provided printed documents of the commission's analysis and recommendation. The commissioners briefly explained what the documents represented, why they decided to have this special meeting two weeks after initially discussing the topic, and how the meeting would proceed.

Clint Jackson from ODMPED was then given the floor to explain how the recommendation from ANC 6C would be used in his departments decision. Basically the commission and community members are given most of the details of these proposals but not every detail is public. Jackson explained that companies would not compete in this manner if items like detailed financials of bids were publicly disclosed. Therefore ODMPED will give great weight to the feedback of the ANC but will use all the information at their disposal, including that which is not publicly shared, to select a proposal.

The commission then opened the floor to residents to share their points of view. While I lost count of the number of residents who took the microphone it was in the double digits and about 80% 555 Mass residents. I was pleasantly surprised that every resident who spoke agreed that the The Arts at 5th and Eye (Donohoe/Holland) was the best fit for the community. I had expected that some would prefer I5/Potomac due to the lure of a Tryst-like cafe, artist studios and to avoid having any kind of club in the neighborhood. However residents were lockstep in feeling the # 1 priority was to make 5th Street a vibrant and safe place. People were very vocal that they wanted to feel safe near their building and safe during walks to the Safeway and other future amenities at City Vista. Consensus was that, while I5/Potomac is an acceptable proposal, the Donohoe/Holland vision to expand the project up to K Street would have the greatest potential positive impact.

The ANC 6C commissioners reclaimed the floor and presented their recommendation. They unanimously agreed with the community to endorse the Donohoe/Holland proposal.

Excerpt:

It is clear from comparative review of the RFP criteria and the additional community criteria that only two of the final four development teams submitted proposals that clearly address community concerns and identified neighborhood needs. Donohoe/Holland and i5 both focus on local retail, local amenities, and improvements that take into account the unique needs and resources of this community. ANC 6C believes that the Donohoe/Holland proposal (aka Arts on 5th) best meets the majority of the above criteria, particularly with regard to the development of 5th St NW, long-term job creation using the First Source standards, pedestrian safety issues beyond construction, and written agreements with the community and the ANC. ANC 6C recommends the Donohoe/Holland proposal as the best fit for the community and the future of 5th and Eye. The Commission notes that i5 is a strong proposal and our second choice.

Feels good to be at a meeting where everyone is on the same page. Hopefully the ODMPED follows suit. We'll know in mid June. =)

5th & I Public Meeting recap

Tonight I attended the public ODMPED meeting of development presentations for the lot at 5th and I Street NW (463 Eye St NW).



Four developers presented for approximately twenty minutes apiece with a brief moderated Q&A forum at the end. The proposals had some common elements. These included had a prominent hotel element, retail/dining, LEED green building and an aspect relating to the Arts. The majority of the proposals included a residential component, plans to acquire adjacent lots to the RFP and affordable housing. Below I'll highlight proposal specific details.

JBG Associates LLC2

JBG has aspirations to produce a development with the biggest footprint. They aim to acquire 8 parcels across four sites to expand their development beyond the RFP lot. The plan included a 230 rm boutique hotel, retail space, over 180 market rate residential units and 34 affordable housing units. They suggested that Hotel Palomar in Rosslyn, another one of their projects, would provide a comparable for the type of hotel they envision. While they have not narrowed down retail partners the plan includes expansive retail space that they would aim to fill with local establishments geared more towards serving the neighborhood than destination retail. My notes label this project as having residential units with views of Mass Ave with the hotel a little further up Eye St.

Donohoe/Holland


The Donohoe/Holland presentation did a great job captivating the audience. The project had a branded name (The Arts at 5th and I), a website, blog, eclectic high end retail, and even read off menu items from their anchor restaurant. The plan called for a four star lifestyle hotel (Me by Meliá), Spa (Yhi), space for international art photography, a london based jazz restaurant (Boisdale) and an urban cafe with full service breakfast (Cappuccinos). Development will locate the jazz club portion of Boisdale below grade level to offset noise concerns. The building, designed by Shalom Baranes, would be mixed use with ground floor retail, 174 hotel units in the mid levels, and 96 residential units on the upper floors. If I recall correctly affordable housing is in the mix but it's not in my chicken scratch notes.

Potomac Investment Properties(PIP)
This development proposal coined itself I5 and is lead by a group of entirely DC based businesses owned by district residents. This plan is self contained on the RFP lot and has the smallest footprint. PIP feels staying small is an advantage they offer by not overwhelming the block. The hotel (Avalon Hotel & Spa) in this plan has a more modest 80 units. An open courtyard above the 2nd level engages more greenspace into the block. A City Cafe would be created in partnership with Constantine Stavropoulous (Tryst | Open City | The Diner). This proposal is also taking a different slant on the goal of integrating the Arts. Unlike the others, live music is not part of the plan. Instead working with the Cultural Development Corporation they aim to provide affordable artist studios and exhibit space.

Buccini/Pollin Group

The Buccini/Pollin group (BPG) submitted two proposals to the city. In an effort to offer a different product and feeling the community is amply served with residential market rate housing their plan solely features two hotels and retail. The two Starwood branded hotels would complement each other. Element serves the extended stay traveler while ALoft (similar to W Hotel) offers a trendy option for short visits. The large retail space would be entirely occupied by World Cafe Live. This venue would feature a restaurant, two live music spaces and the occasional event with 1000 general admission patrons. But the BPG emphatically stated that this venue is not a big box concert venue like House of Blues and would only be open to 1am on weekends. World Cafe Live has a very successful venue in City Centre Philadelphia with another location being built in Wilmington.


Thoughts? I'm glad to see the hotel and retail in all four proposals. The neighborhood needs more amenities and pedestrian traffic. My guess is that PIP proposal will appeal most to 555 Mass residents. I was partial to the Donohoe/Holland vision.

UPDATE (Fri 5/2 @noon):
PQLiving has a post on this topic. Their posting has links to the PDFs of the proposals.