Whatever Wal-mart and the developer end up building on New York Avenue is going to influence the direction of development in the neighborhood for the next 20-25 years at least. With all that at stake, the developer has to come up with something better than this stinking pile of s&#;! that looks like it was imported from Manassas.

by Merarch on Feb 21, 2011 10:16 am • link • report

In many respects, it's a poor location for them. It's not that far from one in PG County and it's not in a major transit corridor. It's actually not that far from the new Deanwood store, either. It will be close to Target and Costco which will be the real draws in this area. It would have made more sense to develop something more complementary to Costco and Target, like a power center with space for small service businesses and the inevitable chain drug store.

by Rich on Feb 21, 2011 10:45 am • link • report

While the Walmart plan is certainly far from spectacular, let's remember that this is a disgusting part of town that doesn't have a lot of people clamoring to redevelop. I'm for letting them do what they want at this site right now.

Regarding Kwame Brown's SUV (and Vince Gray's as well), I hope every DC resident sends an email to his/her councilmember and explains how unacceptable a $2K/month lease is.

by mch on Feb 21, 2011 10:49 am • link • report

The RI Insider says: This proposal basically is a huge parking lot and a suburban model (after the horrendous development of the Giant/Home Depot layout, you would think that it is not good planning to create this type of development).

While the residents around the Giant/Home Depot might more appreciate an urban layout, for me as a District resident faced with driving 10 highway miles to the Falls Church Home Depot or 5 city miles to the RI Ave. Store, their parking lot layout matters little to me. If anything, the traditional parking lot in front is probably more convenient in that it engenders a safer feeling than an underground parking lot or one hidden from streetview.

Now I have no reason to the use the Giant there as I have other similar stores much closer by to me. But when the Home Depot first opened, I started to switch my shopping to this store from the one in Falls Church. But as time went by it became clear that even though they are part of the same company, they are hardly they same store. While the Falls Church store is always clean and filled with personnel asking if they can help you find something, the DC store has gotten to looking already shabby (despite being only a few years old) and the 'service' hardly qualifies as service when you're passed from one person with no knowledge of their products to another equally unable to answer a simple question. Add to that management's refusal to stand behind their staff's commitments in writing ('the person who wrote up the order didn't know we don't put in moldings when we install wall to wall carpetting') and you have a recipe for disaster. I no longer go to the Home Depot in DC and much rather drive the 10 highway miles to Falls Church ... which really doesn't take any longer than the 5 city miles to RI Ave. If Wallmart has anything to worry about with its new location, it's not the layout of the parking lot. It's the quality controls they'll need to put in to make this store the equal of its stores across the river.

by Lance on Feb 21, 2011 11:01 am • link • report

Kwame Brown and Vince Gray should both cancel the leases on their SUVs (and does Brown currently have two,having said that he first one wasn't lux enough?). These cars are shameful wastes of money in a cash-strapped city. And Brown's misdirection (which is a charitable term for what look like lying) about what he asked for in a vehicle is repulsive.

It's also important to keep in mind that DC's budget troubles are due to problems far larger than this, including the lack of a commuter tax and DC's regressive income tax structure. What Brown and Gray do about those (well, about the latter) will be of far greater impact. But that still doesn't get them off the hook for this wastefulness.

by Mister Goat on Feb 21, 2011 11:21 am • link • report

@ SUV: Not only is it embarrassing that Kwame Brown thinks he needs such an all-road vehicle in DC, it is also odd that nobody in the ordering process told him no. Apparently, being council chairman gives you the power to buy whatever pleases you, and DC apparently has no rules preventing such abuse of power and money.

by Jasper on Feb 21, 2011 11:23 am • link • report

While the residents around the Giant/Home Depot might more appreciate an urban layout, for me as a District resident faced with driving 10 highway miles to the Falls Church Home Depot or 5 city miles to the RI Ave. Store, their parking lot layout matters little to me.

Well, right, but this isn't really a novel position. I'm sure there are residents around the Giant/Home Depot don't care if they raze a bunch of dense urban housing in the Dupont area, and put in a bunch of surface parking. It takes a kind of leap of empathy to care about that stuff. Of course, *not* having sprawly surface parking strengthens the city as a whole. And thank goodness a growing number of DC residents realize that's important.

As far as the crummy customer support at the DC Home Depot (and other DC retail establishments), this reminds me of Vince Orange's assertion that we need to tighten "first source" requirements for DC employers, etc... (No idea if Home Depot is subject to those, btw.)

But the whole idea of "first source" is offensive. We should concentrate on training DC residents so they're employable, and therefore will be employed to fill these jobs; not pass legislation so that employers are forced to employ unemployable employees.

by oboe on Feb 21, 2011 11:30 am • link • report

Regarding the SUV, I think Jasper nails it, not only does it show Brown's flaws, it points to a flaw in the DC government process. This is the kind of thing that the city should have rules in place to prevent. DC residents need to demand not only personal accountability, but policies that prevent such abuses from occurring.

by Kate on Feb 21, 2011 11:37 am • link • report

Is anyone at all surprised about the mess with Brown's SUV. We knew before the election that he can't manage his own finances responsibly (the stories about tax liens, excessive credit card debt, etc.). So why is anyone at all surprised that he's not managing DC's money responsibly?

by Rob on Feb 21, 2011 11:41 am • link • report

I completely agree with Jasper and Kate. This type of waste is outrageous. While it's not a whole lot of money, it certainly is a window into how the rest of the D.C. government will be run. We all need to press on our Councilmembers to scrutinize every single administrative action and expenditure.

by Adam L on Feb 21, 2011 11:42 am • link • report

The Bladensburg/NY Ave site does not merit a urban classification simply due to a a DC address. It's form is no more urban that Bailey's Crossroads or the town of Bladensburg. It is isolated by the Arboreteum, Mt Olivet Cemetery and NY Ave/train tracks. It is not near metro or much transit in general. There little of the familiar DC urban street grid.

This site does not warrant the caliber of Walmart being planned in Ward 6. The Ward 6 Walmart is within the walkshed of tens of thousands of residents and daytime office workers. This Ward 5 site is in no man's land. The land values do not warrant the great expense of underground parking. I *WAS* expecting to see some above ground parking garages in the plan. I think that is the compromise to make parking at this site more acceptable than the Home Depot RI Ave metro fiasco.

by Jason on Feb 21, 2011 12:03 pm • link • report

Right, but the question of how to develop that land in the context of regional growth patterns is a fair one. What's the point of developing it as yet another sprawling, traffic-choked Seven Corners if we're just going to be revisiting how to "fix" it in 5-10 years from now? Do we screw it up first, then go back and un-screw it, a la Tysons, White Flint, etc, etc...

There's a sentiment (obviously nurtured by recent history) that something's better than nothing. But the fact that at long last, corporations want to develop these areas is actually an indicator that we should be more choosy, not less. It's not as though--as DC trends more middle-class, and regional traffic gets worse--corporate America is just going to abandon these desirable parcels for another two or three decades.

Now is not the time to panic or settle for mediocrity. If we do, that actually retards the natural increase in value over the medium-term.

by oboe on Feb 21, 2011 12:10 pm • link • report

@ Adam L:We all need to press on our Councilmembers to scrutinize every single administrative action and expenditure.

No. You need to demand proper administrative rules and regulations. Procurement in a city like DC is too complex to leave it to a few part-time elected officials.

by Jasper on Feb 21, 2011 12:27 pm • link • report

@oboe, But the whole idea of "first source" is offensive. We should concentrate on training DC residents so they're employable, and therefore will be employed to fill these jobs; not pass legislation so that employers are forced to employ unemployable employees.

On at least this issue, you and I are in complete agreement.

by Lance on Feb 21, 2011 1:01 pm • link • report

@oboe - if the project requires no zoning exception/variance and no tax break/abatement or public land on what grounds do you feel it can be denied outright or strong-armed into a design far above what the zoning requires?

by Jason on Feb 21, 2011 1:05 pm • link • report

Agree with Oboe. Bailey's Crossroads should not be the model.

by Fred on Feb 21, 2011 1:18 pm • link • report

@Jason:

If the project requires no zoning exception/variance and no tax break/abatement or public land on what grounds do you feel it can be denied outright or strong-armed into a design far above what the zoning requires?

The distance between formal legal requirements and no requirements whatsoever is pretty great. There are plenty of ways that new landholders can be encouraged to be good neighbors, and to build in a way that is good for the future of the surrounding community.

If your argument is that "property owners should be allowed to do whatever they want with their property", then that's fine, but most everyone in urban (and suburban!) America disagrees with you. The argument does have a lot of traction in very rural areas where density is low enough that your decisions have no impact on me whatsoever.

by oboe on Feb 21, 2011 1:37 pm • link • report

If I was Walmart, I'd be pretty fed up with the 'elected' representatives of DC at this point and pretty unwilling to budge on much. Everyone from ANC's to Council Members, to DC Agencies has tried to get their little piece of the pie. It's pretty disgusting that DC operates in this manner. Take the name Walmart out of the picture and replace it with "clean factory generating wealth and bunny rabbits" and you'd still have the ANC's and the Council trying to siphon funds and other handouts.

It's a poverty mindset where you justify taking from others just because they have something you want instead of taking the benefits that come with something at face value and working reasonably to accommodate any issues.

by anon on Feb 21, 2011 1:59 pm • link • report

@anon,

First, Walmart will budge if it's in their interest. They won't if it isn't. It's up to DC's elected officials to extract as many concessions from Walmart as it can; just as it's Walmart's "duty" to extract anything it can from DC.

Second, this is no different from the "poverty mindset" you see in McLean, Reston, and every wealthy suburb in the country--or the world for that matter. It sounds like your argument is "be thankful for whatever you're given".

No thanks.

by oboe on Feb 21, 2011 3:03 pm • link • report

oboe: Not what I'm saying at all, so I'll clarify. You did hear that one ANC member didn't want the Walmart to come in because young people would be tempted to steal and then they'd have records right? That's not an aberration, that's a citywide mindset on how money, employment, criminal justice and poverty interact in DC. There's nothing inherently wrong with negotiating for concessions, the problem is how many completely absurd voices actually get air play in DC when it comes to getting things done.

The concept that you have to go to the mat requesting everything but their first born in negotiation is tired. It's a Union/Capitalist thing, Democrat/Republican thing, but it's largely ineffectual and making headway on negotiating mutually successful agreements.

As I mentioned, making reasonable demands on a business is expected and encouraged, however, allowing unreasonable demands to be brokered as a negotiating ploy makes it harder to reach a good compromise. DC has shown that when it comes right down to it, they are terrible negotiators and we end up with abominations like DC USA.

by eb on Feb 21, 2011 3:19 pm • link • report

@eb,

For whatever it's worth, I can't find anything here I particularly disagree with.

by oboe on Feb 21, 2011 3:23 pm • link • report

Anon: I'm surprised at the assertion that DC is asking for too much. Actually, the DC Council is asking for virtually nothing at all. Councilmembers are even refusing to hold hearings to have public discussion of what needs to be asked for, if anything. Rather than it seeming like everyone wants their piece of the pie, it seems that palms have been greased so that no pie will be requested at all.

by David Alpert on Feb 21, 2011 3:39 pm • link • report

If Walmart isn't asking for any zoning variances or any property tax abatements, then what exactly would a Council hearing do? It's a matter of right development. Which means there's no hook for any Councilmember or special interest to made demands on what Walmart builds on the property. Sure, Walmart should build something nice, but it's their land, it's their building, and it's their money.

As for the Kwame double SUV story, it's hardly surprising. A person who is essentially bankrupt because of their inability to manage their spending and their inflated sense of self is hardly likely to be a good steward of the public money. Kwame has already begun a pathetic attempt at shifting the spotlight to others by telling Tom Sherwood that he wanted to look at what the city is paying for all car leases.

Um...Kwame, the issue isn't all car leases. The issue is YOUR luxury SUV car lease and your arrogance at thinking you deserved such a ridiculous "fully loaded" vehicle.

I eagerly await the thoughts of Kwame's fellow Councilmembers on such a waste of taxpayer money, particularly since any agency director that would do such a stupid thing would be hounded until they quit.

And as for Gray paying obscene amounts of money for a bloated staff that's earning more than either their Fenty or White House counterparts, is that very surprising? This administration has to be one of the most ideas-free in recent memory. Rather than putting forward concrete ideas and plans for moving the city forward, they rely on utterly meaningless mantras like "One City" to cloak the utter lack of creativity, innovation and leadership.

by Fritz on Feb 21, 2011 4:27 pm • link • report

I think 2 of the sites are public land, so there it's not just a matter of being matter of right.

by David Alpert on Feb 21, 2011 4:28 pm • link • report

@David: I don't believe you're correct. If I remember correctly, 3 of the 4 sites would be completely matter of right, with only 1 of them (maybe the EOTR one?), requiring some sort of minor zoning variance.

I know activists like pseudo-journalist Jason Cherkis are all in a tizzy that people aren't in an uproar about Walmart daring to come here, but if the barely-there union protests outside the Woodley Park home of one of the land developers is any indication, the majority of DC residents either support Walmart coming here or don't oppose it.

I don't think your accusation of "palms have been greased" really has much merit, unless you can show substantial political contributions from Walmart to Councilmembers. Could it be that there's no big debate simply because the public isn't all that outraged/motivated/interested in Walmart opening in DC?

by Fritz on Feb 21, 2011 4:38 pm • link • report

@alpert - At the Ward 6 Walmart meeting Tommy Wells said the only Walmart proposal involving public land was the Ward 7 site.

@oboe - no one said they could building ANYTHING. But building what the zoning allows is reasonable. If the zoning wasn't crafted in a way that would achieve an urban outcome then the district government should have changed it years ago. But now that a developer has a plan that's matter of right and ready to launch is a little late in the game.

Even Richard Layman who cringes at the prospects of Walmart would agree that we need regulations that will steer by right development to the outcomes we want. Political grandstanding at the last minute despite having no leverage isn't the way to do it.

by Jason on Feb 21, 2011 5:08 pm • link • report

Political grandstanding at the last minute despite having no leverage isn't the way to do it.

That just begs the question: If the community has no leverage, what's all the sturm und drang about? Walmart will just go ahead and do what it will. To the extent that we do have leverage, we should have no compunctions about using that leverage whatsoever.

by oboe on Feb 21, 2011 9:52 pm • link • report

@oboe: I think the surm und drang is precisely about the fact that the community, special interest groups, and Council members have no legal or statutory say in the matter b/c there's no city hook to hang Walmart. It's a great deal of sound and fury signifying...well, you know.

by Fritz on Feb 22, 2011 9:24 am • link • report

"This type of waste is outrageous. While it's not a whole lot of money, it certainly is a window into how the rest of the D.C. government will be run. We all need to press on our Councilmembers to scrutinize every single administrative action and expenditure." Adam L

Not to defend K Brown at all - quite the contrary, I think the luxury SUV lease is outrageous - but I have to point out that, as chairman of the Council, he IS a councilmember and IS NOT (directly) involved in running the government. That would be the mayor's job. So, it's not (necessarily) a window into anything except his inability to resist temptation.

On WalMart - if it's private land and they aren't getting any District financial help, then there isn't much that can be done without a lot more outcry than we've seen so far. On the other hand, I'm surprised at the fatalistic and dismissive attitude toward development in that neighborhood. Just because it's crappy now doesn't mean it always has to be crappy. If this was built in a completely new urbanistic style, yeah, it would stick out but maybe it would also inspire.

by Josh S on Feb 22, 2011 12:47 pm • link • report

This may sound crazy but add in a MARC train infill station at the confluence of the Camden and Penn lines at Montana Avenue NE, and suddenly, this area become much more valuable.

by retrostyleguy on Feb 22, 2011 3:09 pm • link • report

Great idea Retrostyleguy!

by H Street Landlord on Feb 22, 2011 9:35 pm • link • report

@ retrostyleguy

Whats the point; there are several sites that could use a MARC rail station more such as Bladensburg MD. Who would take a Marc Train from Union Station to Montana Ave It would be cheaper to take a bus and possible to take a cab.

If anything should be built over there it should be a transit center where you could have all of the bus routes which currently serve the area (B2, E2, D4) could stop at by rerouting or changing the destinations of some from Ivy City to near the Walmart.

They could also adding bus routes from the nearest stations New York Ave, Rhode Island Ave & Deanwood (Yes Deadwood is actually close to this site) and a bus line going straight down NY Ave from Ft Lincoln, Mt Rainer or Deanwood Station. It amazes me how there is no bus service going downtown or to a nearby station around that area and many sites in that area can only be accessed by bus with a 2 plus mile walk.

by kk on Feb 23, 2011 10:45 am • link • report