Updated Plans for Hill East/Res. 13 Development to be Presented on Nov. 17

November 15, 2015

On Tues., Nov. 17, ANC 6B’s Hill East Task Force will hear a presentation from Donatelli/Blue Skye Development on the latest plans/renderings for phase I of the Hill East Development (also known as Reservation 13). The task force will meet at 7 pm at St. Coletta of Greater Washington (1901 Independence Ave SE). All are welcome.

The Donatelli/Blue Skye Development team was selected by the city to develop the first two parcels of the 67-acre Hill East Waterfront. While not expected to change significantly from those first presented to the community, the updated plans should include more detail. Donatelli/Blue Skye hope to formally submit their plans to the Zoning Commission for review by the end of the year. ANC 6B will have an opportunity to weigh in formally on the plans prior to the Zoning Commission hearing, likely in early 2016.

 

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Posted by bflahaven

Initial Thoughts on Mayor Bowser’s Proposed FY16 Budget

April 6, 2015

On April 2, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser released her proposed FY16 budget. As with any budget, there are a lot of proposals that I could highlight. I’ve chosen to focus on three items of particular interest to Hill East:

Replacement of DC General
The Mayor’s proposed budget includes $40 million to fund 4 smaller scale homeless shelters to replace the deteriorating DC General shelter. After years of rhetoric about the need to close DC General, it is refreshing to see some actual funding in the budget to achieve this goal. While we still need to see her closure plan, Mayor Bowser deserves credit for making the closing of DC General the budget priority it should be.

Infrastructure Funding for Reservation 13/Hill East Development
I was also happy to see $11.2 million in the Mayor’s proposed capital budget for infrastructure funding for phase I of the Res. 13/Hill East Development. The 11.2 million, which would be spent over 3 years, would be used to fund the roadway extensions (Mass Ave SE, the new 20th Street SE, etc.) surrounding the Donatelli/Blue Skye mixed-use development.

School Modernizations
While the Mayor’s FY16 capital budget includes funding for the modernization of Watkins Elementary School (30.9 million in FY16 and FY17), the budget plan further delays modernization funding for a number of other Capitol Hill schools. Long overdue modernizations at Eliot-Hine and Jefferson Academy Middle Schools are delayed until FY19. These delays are totally unacceptable, particularly in a budget document that claims to make strengthening middle schools a priority. (Councilmember David Grosso’s office has put together a nice breakdown of how the Mayor’s budget will affect school modernizations).

Look, I understand that budgeting is not easy, particularly when the city has to fill a budget gap. And DC has limited borrowing authority and must stay under a statutory debt cap. This means that Mayor Bowser and the Council have to make tough choices. I get it.

But it is hard to accept further delays to school modernizations when the same capital budget includes $106 million in new capital funding (all borrowed) for the DC United Stadium at Buzzard Point – a stadium that the DC Council’s own independent consultant estimated would provide only $40 million in benefits (and is going to eventually cost taxpayers a lot more than $106 million). So the Mayor and the Council (OK, the previous Council) have essentially prioritized a giveaway to a professional soccer team over better (and safer) school buildings. This cannot be labeled a tough choice. This can only be described as a really, really bad decision.

So while I give Mayor Bowser credit for her proposed investments in new shelters, affordable housing and Reservation 13, she also deserves criticism for supporting a soccer stadium that is taking capital dollars away from school modernizations. Hopefully, the Mayor and Council will work to restore some of this funding during consideration of the budget in April and May.

Leave a Comment » | DC Council, DC General, Reservation 13/Hill East Waterfront, Schools | Permalink
Posted by bflahaven

FINALLY! Mayor Bowser Signs LDA for Reservation 13/Hill East Development

March 2, 2015
Mayor Bowser signs the Res. 13/Hill East LDA with Chris Donatelli of Donatelli Development (to her left) and Scottie Irving of Blue Skye Construction (to her right) while Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen and Deputy Mayor Brian Kenner look on.

Mayor Muriel Bowser signs the Res. 13/Hill East LDA with Chris Donatelli of Donatelli Development (left) and Scottie Irving of Blue Skye Construction (right) as Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen and Brian Kenner, Acting Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development, look on.

After twelve long years, the city is finally moving forward on mixed use development at Reservation 13! Today, Mayor Muriel Bowser signed the Land Disposition Agreement (LDA) for Phase I of the Res. 13/Hill East Development. The agreement allows Donatelli/Blue Skye development to move forward with design, permitting and construction of their mixed-use project for Parcels F1 & G1 on the site.

Donatelli/Blue Skye plan to build two buildings surrounding the Stadium-Armory Metro Plaza. The mixed-use buildings will include 354 residential units and 40,000 square feet of retail (20,000 sf in each building). Thirty percent, or 106, of the residential units will be affordable. Michael Neibauer of the Washington Business Journal is reporting that Donatelli/Blue Skye hope to break ground in 2016 with completion slated for 2018.

Obviously, this is a big day for Hill East. I want to thank Mayor Bowser for making the Hill East LDA her first LDA signing as Mayor and for her strong support of the project. I also want to acknowledge the contributions of Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen, Ward 7 Councilmember Yvette Alexander, former Mayor Gray, former Ward 6 Councilmembers Tommy Wells and Sharon Ambrose, former ANC 6B Commissioners Francis Campbell and Ken Jarboe and the many Hill East residents who have continued to push the city to move forward on this long-stalled development. In addition, I want to thank Donatelli Development and Blue Skye Construction for pursuing development plans at Reservation 13 and our ANC 7F colleagues for their support.

Of course, this is only the first phase of the full development. The Mayor and Council need to act now to prepare the rest of the site for development. I plan on continuing to work with my colleagues on ANC 6B and ANC 7F to make sure that pursuing the entire Res. 13/Hill East Development remains a priority.

3 Comments | Development, Reservation 13/Hill East Waterfront, Uncategorized | Permalink
Posted by bflahaven

More Information on the DC Olympic Bid

December 14, 2014

On Dec. 16, Washington 2024, the organization leading the city’s bid for the 2024 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games, will make their final presentation to the United States Olympic Committee (USOC). Washington 2024 is competing against Boston, Los Angeles and San Francisco to be the U.S. bid city for the 2024 Games.

So far, Washington 2024 has refused to share their plans with the public. In attempt to learn more about the bid’s potential impact on Hill East, ANC 6B sent a letter (pdf) last month to Washington 2024 requesting a community meeting prior to the USOC’s final decision on a U.S. bid city. Unfortunately, Washington 2024 declined ANC 6B’s meeting request (pdf). They plan to start their community engagement process when/if Washington, DC is selected as the U.S. bid city.

While Washington 2024 declined ANC 6B’s invitation for a meeting, the organization did accept an invitation to speak at Councilmember Vincent Orange’s Small Business and Economic Development Summit held on Fri., Dec. 12. Since we can’t get a meeting with Washington 2024 in Hill East, I decided to attend the summit to learn more about the bid. Here is what I heard:

  • The USOC’s decision on a U.S. bid city could come as early as next week or as late as next January. If Washington, DC is selected, the USOC and city will have until Sept. 2015 to formally apply to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to host the 2024 games. The IOC will make its final decision on a host city in Sept. 2017.
  • Not surprisingly, Washington 2024 did not share the specific plans they will be presenting to the USOC. I’m not sure if the decision to keep the public in the dark about the plans is being made by Washington 2024 or the USOC but it is a bad decision. Putting on an Olympics requires a multi-billion dollar public investment. The secretive nature of the process has helped fuel skepticism about the bids in Washington and the other three potential bid cities.
  • RFK Stadium and Reservation 13 are under consideration for a new Olympic Stadium and Olympic Village respectively, though other sites are also being considered for these venues.
  • Robert Sweeney, senior advisor to Washington 2024, noted that the Olympics could be a catalyst to develop sites like Reservation 13 where redevelopment plans largely have failed to take off. I responded that the city is largely to blame for the state of Reservation 13 today and that it shouldn’t take the Olympics to develop a waterfront site sitting on top of a Metro station.
  • Sweeney did mention the Reservation 13 master plan and said that Washington 2024 would follow the plan in developing an Olympic Village if the site is chosen for such a use. I was pleasantly surprised that the organization was aware of the master plan and had thought about how to incorporate it. However, using the site for an Olympic Village would mean the city wouldn’t see the housing and retail slated for Reservation 13 until 2025 at the earliest.
  • Sweeney reaffirmed that Washington 2024 would begin an “extensive” community outreach campaign beginning in Jan./Feb. 2015 if the city is chosen as the U.S. bid city. Community briefings would be held in all eight wards and he recommitted to holding a community meeting in Hill East.
  • There was a lot of focus on the legacy of an Olympic Games. Andrew Altman, former head of the legacy corporation created for the London 2012 games (and former head of the DC Office of Planning) talked about how London began their Olympic planning by envisioning what the Olympic park and venues would look like in 2030. Washington 2024 is modeling their effort after the London games.
  • In addition to Councilmember Orange, Mayor-Elect Muriel Bowser spoke at the Summit in support of the Olympic bid and will be attending the Dec.16 USOC presentation. It appears that the Mayor, Mayor-Elect and DC Council are all behind the bid though they haven’t held a single hearing on the subject nor officially voted to support the bid. If Washington, DC is awarded the games, the city will have to sign a financial guarantee to fully fund the games and any cost overruns.

Community engagement should be the centerpiece – not an afterthought – of an Olympic bid. Residents shouldn’t have to attend business roundtables and summits to learn basic details. I plan to continue pushing city leaders and Washington 2024 to share more information about the bid.

1 Comment | DC General, Development, Reservation 13/Hill East Waterfront, RFK/Stadium Armory | Permalink
Posted by bflahaven

Past Time for Details from Washington 2024

November 25, 2014

Two recent editorials – one from Washington Business Journal Editor-in-Chief Douglas Fruehling and the other from ANC 6B10 Commissioner-Elect Denise Krepp on The Hill is Home – call on Washington 2024 to start sharing the details of their bid for the 2024 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games. I agree with both Fruehling and Krepp that the decision to bid on an Olympics is a huge decision – one that should not be made behind closed doors. And given that RFK Stadium and Reservation 13 have been identified as potential sites for a new Olympic stadium and Olympic village respectively, Hill East residents deserve to know how an Olympic bid would affect the future of the neighborhood and waterfront.

Estimates put the potential cost of hosting an Olympic Games at $15-20 billion. DC residents deserve to know how Washington 2024 and the city plan to finance such a large investment, particularly when the city is already bumping up against its debt cap. Mayor Vince Gray has proposed using a land swap instead of borrowing to fund a new DC United Stadium. If the Mayor and Council are concerned about exceeding the debt cap on a roughly $150 million dollar investment, how are they going to find funding for a $15 billion dollar Olympics? Yet Mayor Gray, Mayor-Elect Muriel Bowser, Council Chairman Phil Mendelson and Ward 5 Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie have all signaled support for the bid.

And why hasn’t the DC Council held a hearing on the proposed bid? Earlier this year, the Council found time to examine a ridiculous and unrealistic RFK Stadium/hotel zone/waterpark/golf course bill but it can’t find the time to hold a hearing on Washington 2024?

It’s time for Washington 2024 and city leaders to share specific details about the Olympic bid. To that end, ANC 6B has sent the following letter to Washington 2024 inviting the organization to present their plans at a community meeting. We hope to work with our colleagues in ANCs 7D, 7F and 6A to find a meeting date and time that works for all commissions representing or adjacent to RFK Stadium and Reservation 13.

—-ANC 6B Letter to Washington 2024—-

November 13, 2014

Russ Ramsey
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Washington 2024
2200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
5th Floor East
Washington, DC 20037

Dear Chairman Ramsey,

We write to invite you to attend a community meeting in the next month to discuss specific details of the Washington 2024 Summer Olympic bid. At a properly noticed meeting with a quorum present on November 13, 2014, Advisory Neighborhood Commission 6B voted 8-0 to send this letter and invitation.

We are aware that Washington, DC is a finalist to be the United States bid city for the 2024 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games. While few details have been released about your plans for venues, media reports suggest that a good portion of the eastern end of Capitol Hill, including RFK Stadium, the DC Armory and Reservation 13, are being discussed as sites for an Olympic Stadium, Olympic Village and other venues. Our commission represents the Hill East residents who live immediately to the west of these sites.

Before our commission can consider supporting your efforts, we need an opportunity to learn more about your plans and to ask you questions before the United States Olympic Committee selects a bid city in early 2015. Our questions include:

  • What venues are being planned for the land surrounding RFK Stadium, the DC Armory and Reservation 13 (site of the former DC General hospital)?
  • Given that most hotels are west of these sites, how will spectators travel to the various venues without further complicating the normal congestion along our roads?
  • Besides the site of RFK Stadium and Reservation 13, are there other potential Olympic Stadium or Village locations in mind?
  • How much will the District of Columbia have to invest in the Olympic bid? What will be the breakdown in public versus private dollars?
  • How do you plan to engage surrounding neighbors as the bid progresses? A community advisory committee? Monthly e-mail list?

In the next few days, I will follow-up with your staff to find a date/time and Hill East venue in the next month that works for a meeting. We will also coordinate this date and time with our colleague commissions who represent constituents on or surrounding the eastern end of Capitol Hill – ANC 7D (RFK Stadium and the Armory), ANC 7F (Reservation 13) and ANC 6A (residents immediately east and northeast of both sites).

In your June 2014 press release, Washington 2024’s Vice Chairman Ted Leonsis said that DC would host the “most transparent” games in history. It is in this spirit that we send this invitation. We look forward to learning more about the bid and how it will affect our constituents and city.

Thank you for your consideration, and we look forward to hearing from you,

Sincerely,

Brian Flahaven
Chair, ANC 6B

Leave a Comment » | ANC 6B, Development, Reservation 13/Hill East Waterfront, RFK/Stadium Armory | Permalink
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