Columbus Circle Upgrade Takes Shape

Columbus Circle, the front yard of Union Station, is finally getting a much-needed rehabilitation thanks to the District Department of Transportation, Union Station Redevelopment Corp. and the National Park Service.

The problems with the current arrangement of Columbus Circle, built in 1912, four years after Union Station was completed, are well known.

Pedestrians alighting from Union Station and its accompanying Metro stop, supposedly the grand entrance to the District, are met with ugly Jersey barriers placed after 9-11, forced to walk across the crumbling fountains, brickwork, pavers and impromptu dirt paths where the grass has gone untended, then cross several lanes of traffic consisting of taxicabs, tour buses and the occasional D.C. Duck.

Navigating around Columbus Circle on Massachusetts Ave. was no picnic either for motorists. Bone-shaking potholes along the Circle made a cab ride from Union Station an often-unpleasant introduction to tourists visiting the nation's Capital.

Worse, pedestrians, mostly well-dressed young Capitol Hill staffers, would often emerge from the chin-high hedgerows at the edge of the Circle and dart across Mass. Ave seemingly at random. At night it was even worse, as battered and rusting Washington Globe streetlights cast long shadows across the Circle, making the traverse from Capitol Hill to Union Station a sketchy encounter at best.

The key to Columbus Circle's restoration is rerouting of traffic, with the removal of a central service lane that cuts the Columbus plaza and fountain off from Massachusetts Ave. The service lane will be filled in with brick and pavers, and pedestrian access widened in certain spots and narrowed in others, encouraging walkers to stay off the grass and not take shortcuts. The new Columbus Circle will eliminate the bottleneck at the east end as cabs and passenger cars merged from the hairpin turn of the service lane onto Mass Ave. Now there will be simply a conventional four way intersection on the west end. Drivers on Mass. Ave, which is increasingly becoming a high-speed artery with 20,000 cars traveling on it a day in both directions, will be able to take advantage of wider lanes as well.

The shrubs at the edge of Columbus Plaza will be removed, and pedestrian islands along the north and south sides of Massachusetts Ave. will be widened. Lighting along Mass. Ave, First Street NE and Columbus Plaza will also be improved, including new lighting for the fountains and flag posts. The National Park Service will also repair the often-dormant Columbus Fountain and its smaller twin sisters at either end of the Plaza with new piping and pumps.

Finally, a new line of security bollards guarding the entrance to Union Station will replace the temporary Jersey barriers.

The rehab by Parsons Transportation Group (which performed the architecture and engineering for Union Station's bike station) and Capitol Paving is more than seven years in the making. But like restoration to Union Station itself, with a hodgepodge of agencies, including Amtrak, Metro, the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts and the National Capital Planning Commission all claiming turf, the process was painfully slow. The initial plans came together in 2004 but work only started last September and won't be complete until February 2013 at a cost of $7.8 million.

Washington D.C. real estate development news

Georgia Avenue's Beacon Center Gets its Wings

Tally another mixed-use development for the Almighty, as religious groups around the District seem to have a leg up in building these days (Bethesda church, Clarendon church). Following a long and contentious Zoning review process, and following several trying meetings with the Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB) and the National Park Service (NPS) concerning the project's potential effects upon the neighboring Fort Stevens, the Emory United Methodist Church Beacon of Light in Brightwood received Board approval in the early Spring, and are finally ready to move forward with their Beacon Center project.

Granted a raze permit for 6120 Georgia Ave, NW late last week, neighbors can expect demolition and construction to begin shortly.

The $30 million development, designed by PGN Architects, will offer 180,000 s.f. of multipurpose housing and various congregational and community facilities. The Beacon Center will supply transitional spaces (24 units) in an effort to aid the homeless work toward permanent residency. Also in the works are 34 units for seniors citizens, 17 units reserved for veterans, and 16 affordable rentals. A college-sized indoor multi-sport gymnasium (basketball and soccer) and rec center will be available to the surrounding community. The aggressive expansion will also feature a full service banquet facility, office space for the church and for lease, senior citizens services (such as optometrist, podiatrist, etc.) and ground-floor retail. Additionally the current sanctuary (doubling as a community theater) will be renovated and expanded to 500 seats. Patrons will have access to roughly 100 underground parking spaces and several rows of bike spaces.

Sean Pichon, a Partner at PGN Architects, said his firm has been especially challenged by the need to adjust their designs to the steep grade of the property. Other difficulties included maintaining the "view corridors" and balancing the affordability of the project with the goal of an attractive and congruous facade. Working hard to best the obstacles, designers created features like "curved green roofs" over the retail space to create and "continue the imagery of the hillside." To allow for views from Georgia Avenue his team situated the main entrance on the side road, Quackenbos; this maneuver also enabled multiple access points and preserved the historic stairs leading up to the old church.

Not all were satisfied, however, as the NPS and Civil War Preservation Trust wrote strong letters of opposition, contending that "the proposed five-story wall along Old Piney Branch Road would create a significant visual intrusion on the fort." Opponents also voiced concern that "the Beacon Center’s overall size and floor plan [read too big]...would have an adverse impact on Fort Stevens and subsequently the other remaining Circle Forts." But the representatives of the Church, including the Pastor, convinced Zoning Board members that they had made significant and genuine efforts at compromise, with the Board ultimately deciding that the overall positives of the project outweighed what little impact the building might have on its neighbors. Instead of a reduction in height and massing, NPS will have to settle for 359 square feet in the new building, reserved for their use as a welcome center/gift shop to "educate and promote the history of Fort Stevens." Reenactors and Fort Stevens staff can imagine the impending sounds of the Bozzuto-lead demolition and construction as the distant rumblings of the long ago battles.

Washington D.C. Real Estate Development News

New Visions for Washington Monument Grounds

What do you do with 50 acres of under-utilized, poorly maintained land in downtown Washington DC? When the site is the grounds of the Washington Monument, planning ignites a nearly existential debate. Yet one organization has set out to envision a fresh design for the grounds and the monument with an unofficial "ideas competition" that will kick off later this summer.

Despite more than 200 years of unfulfilled designs that include creating museums, lakes, universities, a paved plaza, and World's Fair space, the land surrounding the monument - the focal point of the Mall and most important tribute thereon - remains largely unimproved, unplanned, and dilapidated. The National Ideas Competition for the Washington Monument Grounds hopes to bring attention to that and "develop innovative and creative ideas for making the Washington Monument grounds more welcoming, educational, and effectively used by the public." The competition will launch this summer, accepting any and all ideas about how to better use the space and (maybe) pay tribute to the first president, with submissions due October 31, 2010. Organizers hope to narrow submissions to five finalists by next summer and submit those contenders to a public vote.

Obstacles to adoption of the winning ideas are daunting. The land is administered by the National Park Service (NPS), which would have to support the plan, which would then have to be signed off by Congress, the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) and the U.S. Commission on Fine Arts, none of which have even endorsed the competition. NPS has already devised plans to renovate century old Sylvan Theater, and the Army Corps of Engineers plans to work on a levee system for the northwest corner of the grounds.

Leaders of the competition, however, are more animated by the debate and thought provocation than by a redesign that would actually stick. Jim Clark, President-elect of the Virginia Society of the AIA and Chair of the steering committee, says the project is "mostly an educational forum, that's why we've opened it to younger students as well." Clark has been leading design competitions for 15 years and sees a larger purpose. "This will generate interesting dialogue about the center of our capital city, and will help educate people about history, about planning, and about the status of the National Mall."

As to the choice of this quadrant of the Mall, Clark answers that "this is really the heart of the National Mall. Symbolically it should be the richest area of the Mall from an interpretive standpoint. The mall has many many needs and will continue to evolve. We're really looking at this competition broadly to assess what role the monument grounds should play in the future." Ellen Goldstein, Executive Director of the steering committee, notes that the intent is not to actually transform the Mall. "We don't have any intent to advocate or lobby for the ideas to be implemented" she says of the winning design, though adding that it "could lead to be a transformational process ultimately, even though it is not a stated objective."

The grounds surrounding the monument have changed little over the years, despite the numerous grandiose ideas by accomplished architects. In the early 20th century a public pool graced the northwest corner of the site, and mid-century government office buildings packed the foot of the monument until they were torn down in 1960. Following the terrorist attacks of September 2001, a circular security perimeter was added to the landscaping, which otherwise looks much like it did when the land was originally reclaimed from the Potomac in the late 1800s.

The steering committee has already selected five of the judges and expects to announce the full panel of judges shortly, whose job it will be to determine what good design will never be built.

Washington DC real estate development news

Brightwood Church Gets Mixed-Use Upgrade

With government approval now in hand, Emory United Methodist Church is beginning its designs for the Beacon Center, a mixed-use development on Georgia Avenue in Brightwood that would envelop the quasi-historic church in a cocoon of new housing. The Church (tagline: "real church for real people") will offer its residences as affordable, naturally - that being what gets built on Georgia Avenue - and should be underway by next year. The rear of Beacon's hilltop property abuts Fort Stevens and a previous iteration of the church building served as a hospital and barracks during the Civil War. The new development, designed by PGN Architects, will include 67 residential units, street-level retail and 58,000 s.f. of new church space, to include an expanded worship area, administrative offices and church-operated residential uses. Above the church offices, Beacon Center will offer two floors of "transitional" housing for families, totaling 24 units. The other residential building will sit four stories high on top of the hill, but will appear as a five-story building from the Georgia Avenue street-level retail. The 67-unit residential development will contain 34 units for seniors, 17 units set aside for veterans and 16 affordable rentals. Each floor will have a common area and a common laundry facility. Tucked beneath the residential building in the hillside will be two levels of parking for just under 100 cars, with a few bicycle racks thrown in for good measure. Sean Pichon, a Partner at PGN Architects, said design challenges such as addressing the grade of the property, preserving the "view corridors" and maintaining the affordability of the project compelled his firm to be flexible. The result? Unique features like "curved green roofs" over the retail space to create and "continue the imagery of the hillside." Though the materials are mostly affordable, PGN tried to vary the color and use a mix of materials in the wood-framed structures to "create a dynamic design" within the financial constraints of the church's budget. Pichon said the team's efforts to maintain the views from Georgia Avenue lead them to create a main entrance from a side road, Quackenbos, and to provide multiple access points to maintain the historic stairs leading up to the old church. The Beacon plan did not gain approval without its share of complications. Two Board of Zoning Adjustment (BZA) members recused themselves from the case, one because of personal contributions to the project, and another because he is a representative of the National Park Service (NPS), which submitted a letter in opposition. The recusals made for a more stressful zoning process: with only three board members left and a majority approval needed, there was not much wiggle room for the development team. According to Pichon, it put "a lot of pressure" on the team to get "all the support you can across the board." The NPS expressed concerns that the requested height variance, which brings the building in at over 63 feet, would obstruct views of Fort Stevens from Georgia Avenue - despite the fact that you can't see Fort Stevens from Georgia Avenue now, less'n you are two stories tall - and that the development is too close in proximity to the park property line. The community largely spoke out against the NPS objections. To make amends, the applicants suggested erecting a memorial to the Fort on site and even using some of the retail space as a souvenir shop (souvenir shops; now that will improve Georgia Avenue). The height variance along with the souvenir shop ultimately received approval. With the zoning approval in hand, Emory selected the Bozzutto Group to serve as general contractor for both pre-construction and construction. Neighbors can expect work to start by next year. 

Washington, DC real estate development news

DC's Overlapping Authorities: Not Just a Developer's Headache

If there's one thing the ridiculous amount of snow has taught DCMud, other than developers love any excuse not to answer their phones, it's that the many overarching authorities that rule the District apparently cause headaches in areas other than development, such as snow removal. Just as massive developments like the St. Elizabeths Campus require developers to go before the Historic Preservation Review Board, the National Capital Planning Commission, the National Park Service (NPS) and the District Department of Transportation (DDOT), among other authorities, the recent snowstorm brought to the forefront the web of agencies responsible for District public space and sidewalks.

Tuesday, Councilmember Tommy Wells tweeted at the NPS and DDOT about uncleared sidewalks on several blocks of Pennsylvania Avenue SE. DDOT promptly tweeted back that it was not responsible for the 800 block of Pennsylvania and suggested the sidewalks might belong to the NPS. Other twitter followers suggested contacting Department of Parks and Recreation for good measure. If you can get over the fact that all these conversations occurred on twitter (you are reading a blog, err online journal), then you might get a feel for the confusion that is public space in the District...during a snowstorm.

Though District law requires property owners to clear snow and ice from sidewalks, handicap ramps and steps abutting their property within the first 8 daylight hours after snow, sleet or ice stop falling, District Agencies have their own priorities. As Charles Allen, Chief of Staff for Councilmember Wells, explained about the Pennsylvania Avenue situation "some of the parks are DC managed parks while many others are managed by the National Park Service...NPS [is] putting it on their radar to get out and clear, but their priority is around the monument and federal areas."

How many authorities overlap in snow removal for public space? Well, Allen was not certain but listed "the AOC for the US Capitol grounds, National Park Service for the Mall, national parks and a lot of the “pocket parks” throughout the city, and then the DC Government manages all the other local parks."

Another high-profile example of conflicting authorities and priorities is the street car debate.
In a September review of the 11th Street bridge project, the NCPC stated that it "does not support a street car system with overhead wires in the L'Enfant City" and encouraged DDOT "to pursue alternative propulsion technologies...that do not require overhead wires." The NCPC ban on overhead wires in the downtown area means DDOT will either have to find a way to power the street cars without overhead wires or have the law changed to allow them. Headache.

Whether you're trudging through snow or trudging through bureaucratic red tape, at some point you'll likely get stuck in the mire of District and federal agencies that govern DC. Oh yeah, you can follow us on twitter @TheDCMud.

Washington, DC real estate development news

"America's Front Yard" Gets Stimulated

While the Associated Press reports that Interior Secretary Ken Salazar directed $55.8 million in federal stimulus money to restoration of the National Mall this past Earth Day, plans for making over America's designated spot for both protest and play have been brewing for quite a some time. The National Parks Service (NPS) - the government agency tasked with overseeing all things Mall-related - recently released the details of their Preliminary Preferred Plan for the 309 acre site and it envisions a few nip-tucks that (gasp) may actually require some demolition.

On that note, NPS calling is calling for both the National Sylvan Theater and Capitol Reflecting Pool (not, as they are quick to point out, the iconic Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool) to be razed. While the latter would simply be replaced by another “water feature,” the Sylvan Theater – which hosts annual Military Band Summer Concert Series and the occasional fair-weather rally - would make way for a “multipurpose entertainment facility,” full details of which have yet to be disclosed. Union Square at the Mall's eastern end would also undergo a redesign, while the deteriorating District of Columbia War and Ulysses S. Grant Memorials would get the old toothbrush and brass polish treatment. Reps for the Department of the Interior also repeatedly emphasized the need to for restoration of the Jefferson Memorial’s sea wall, which spokesman Hugh Vickery described as “crumbling” against an ever encroaching Tidal Basin.

Not to be outdone by Salazar’s show of Earth Day bravado, the National Capital Planning Commission’s (NCPC) “Blue Ribbon Panel” of landscape architects has also released its critique of NPS’ plan for the Mall. While praising the restoration maneuvers as a “heroic effort,” they repeatedly refer to the site as both “America’s Front Yard” and an “international embarrassment.” Informed by the latter, they support “a standing ban on any new memorials or museums not already in planning stages (read: the National Museum of African American History and Culture and the Eisenhower Memorial) and call for the relocation of tourist services off-site – citing the long-vacant Smithsonian Arts and Industries Building as prime contender.

To carry out these long-term goals of both the federal government and the NCPC, NPS has enlisted the aid of architects Wallace Roberts & Todd LLC and landscape architects DHM Design Corporation to outline their proposed modifications. With each contributor bringing their own roll of red tape to the table, could this be a case of too many cooks in the kitchen? There’s no telling at this point, but the renovation procedures could begin as early as this coming August.

Correction: The "Blue Ribbon Panel" mentioned above as extension of NCPC is, in fact, an "independent initiative" of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA). Says Stephen Staudigl, NCPC Public Affairs Specialist:

ASLA took the lead to establish the Blue Ribbon Panel that included members from the American Society of Landscape Architects, the American Institute of Architects and the American Planning Association...NCPC supports some of the ASLA panel’s key findings, such as the National Park Service’s “heroic” effort to improve the National Mall based on the public’s call for improved conditions and better services.