Posts about Walter Reed
expected to take place in the District in 2011. Major projects include the McMillan Sand Filtration Site, Walter Reed, Hill East, and St. Elizabeth's Hospital. (City Paper) (Comment)
Events
On the calendar: Lockwood, Gray, Walter Reed, McMillan Sand, Lincoln Park CaBi, retro bikes and much more
The next few weeks have copious opportunities to weigh in on the future of DC neighborhoods. Please consider attending some of them!
Image from Wikipedia.
Tonight alone has three great events competing for your time. The Coalition for Smarter Growth is hosting "transportation celebrity" Ian Lockwood for a talk tonight at NCPC, 401 9th Street, NW. Lockwood designed the Gilbert's Corner roundabouts, which allowed smooth traffic flow for a tiny fraction of the cost of VDOT's plans for wide highways and grade-separated interchanges. He also designed the boulevard concept for Rockville Pike that will be part of the White Flint plan. It's free, but an RSVP is required.
Vince Gray is also holding the Ward 2 iteration of his town halls, this one at Foundry United Methodist Church at 16th and P, NW. Tuesday is the one in Ward 1, at Carlos Rosario International Public Charter School, 1100 Harvard Street, NW in Columbia Heights. The final three town halls take place in Ward 8's Barry Farm, Ward 4's upper 14th Street, and Ward 6's Hill East.
Finally, planners will present their final concepts for reusing much of the Walter Reed site. The details have already been reported, including a number of nonprofits and a good amount of retail which the local ANC nonetheless opposes. The Post has a map. And how much parking will it need?
Meanwhile, planning for another large parcel of land in DC's northern section is just getting started: the McMillan Sand Filtration Site at North Capitol and Irving. Stalled for a while due to the economy, the developers are starting a series of public meetings Saturday at 10 am. I'd expect the community opposition to building anything to come roaring back in force, so if you live nearby, stop by to weigh in.
Speaking of community controversy, the debate over a Lincoln Park CaBi station will feature prominently at the local ANC's meeting on Monday. A lot of us were unhappy DDOT's bike planners simply deleted the station from the map after a few people complained instead of soliciting input from others, many of whom were excited about the station.
Now, the ANC is giving everyone that chance, at 7 pm Monday at Capitol Hill Towers, 900 G Street, NE. If you support the bike sharing station (or if you don't), show up to make your voice heard. Otherwise, DDOT will likely decide based on the opinions of others.
Wednesday is another bevy of community presentations on local projects for residents of the upper half of DC, this time about streets in upper Northwest and upper 14th. West of Rock Creek, DDOT will present its findings on its Rock Creek West II Livability Study, which looks at transportation safety on key streets. East of the park, the Office of Planning will discuss retail revitalization on 14th north of Spring Road.
There's also a public forum on Maryland transportation priorities at 2:30 pm at SHA's headquarters district office in Prince George's, but based on the time of the meeting, SHA doesn't seem to really want you to go.
After all those meetings, it's time for some fun. The NoMA BID and Dandies & Quaintrelles (who ran the Seersucker Social) are holding a Retro Day as part of NoMA's three-week public festival Zestfest. Retro Day, on Friday, October 22, features a classic bike show, badminton, and a Beatles rock band at the Loree Grand, 2nd and L Streets, NE. We hear Tommy Wells is going to be one of the judges of the retro bike show.
And the next day, tour DC's West End neighborhood in the lastest CSG walking tour. It's Saturday, October 23, 10 am at the Trader Joe's. The tour will show off a number of exciting developments, a gas station with a green roof, and even the place Michael Jordan once lived.
If you live in Northern Virginia and are wondering why there aren't more events in your areas on the calendar, you've got one: the Northern Virginia Streetcar Coalition annual meeting, Thursday, October 28 at 7 pm at NVCC Alexandria.
But if you'd like to see more Northern Virginia events on our calendar, or more of anything, submit them as tips or email tips@ggwash.org and we'll add them.
Development
Walter Reed closure could hurt Silver Spring
In Montgomery County, most of the discussion about the closing of Walter Reed centers on how to absorb the jobs that will go to the National Military Medical Center (NMMC) in Bethesda.
Photo by mind on fire on Flickr.
With about 1,400 jobs scheduled to move to NMMC and another 1,100 additional positions at the facility expected by 2020, MoCo has focused on how to handle the crush of new commuters. The shift of jobs from Walter Reed to Bethesda has some downside for Montgomery County, though Silver Spring is just a short drive up Georgia Avenue from Walter Reed, and the redevelopment of Silver Spring's downtown has allowed Montgomery County to benefit from the economic activity generated by Walter Reed. Many of the soldiers at Walter Reed are recovering from injuries suffered in Iraq and Afghanistan, so the military personnel who frequent McGinty's or visit Woodside Urban Park with their families tend to be a low-key presence. Nonetheless, their economic impact is significant. A friend who works at a Silver Spring hotel tells me that her employer expects a $5 million a year revenue hit when Walter Reed closes. Silver Spring already has nine hotels, with more capacity coming in the medium term. Many companies have been scaling back business travel in favor of teleconferencing, so demand would probably be soft even without the loss of Walter Reed business and with a strong economic recovery.
That's not to say that the closing of Walter Reed has to be bad for Silver Spring. In fact, DC has ambitious plans to redevelop the Walter Reed campus. Ideas for reuse include some combination of residential housing, offices, retail, space for non-profits, a WMATA bus garage, and recruitment of one or more new federal government tenants to replace the Army.
The District government also has been working for several years to refashion Upper Georgia Avenue (which they define as the 2.6 mile stretch from Decatur Street to the Maryland line) into a more inviting, vibrant corridor. These improvements would be good for both DC and MoCo.
Now might be a good time, though, for MoCo leaders to devote some thought to how we might cooperate (and in some cases compete against) the District to make sure we are prepared for the loss of Walter Reed.
To that end, here are some of the key issues for Montgomery County in the ongoing redevelopment of Upper Georgia Avenue and the Walter Reed campus:
Extending the beachhead of Silver Spring's redevelopment. Complaints about chain restaurants notwithstanding, the redevelopment of Silver Spring around the intersection of Fenton and Ellsworth has been a huge success. The land use and streetscape along Georgia between the DC line and Walter Reed leaves a lot to be desired, but this part is the District's responsibility, and the pressing economic development priority for Silver Spring is to encourage more activity in the area extending from Wayne Avenue to the border with DC.
The departure of Mayorga Coffee for Takoma Park was a blow to these efforts, but hundreds of new condominium and apartment units are coming online. Silver Spring is still an underserved restaurant and retail market, and the demand for entertainment and shopping choices is strong despite the economic downturn.
Improving transit access. A streetcar line once ran along Georgia Avenue, but the line was abandoned in the early sixties. Metro's Red Line was built in the heavy rail corridor to well to the east from Union Station to Silver Spring, leaving the Georgia Avenue corridor without high quality transit, although bus service is available.
DC plans to build a street car line up Georgia within a few years, but current plans call for the northern end of the line to end at the Takoma Park Metro station rather than Silver Spring in order to keep the streetcar system within the city limits.
Montgomery County should consider how it might work with DC to connect to the streetcar line at some point in the future, and in the short term MoCo might want to study how to make bus service more appealing along Georgia Avenue.
Tearing down (or at least breaking up) the wall. Like most military bases, Walter Reed is closed off to the surrounding area by fencing and security gates, cutting off 14th Street to the south from the residential neighborhoods to the north. DC's plans for the campus and for Georgia Avenue are based on sound concepts; namely, a mix of residential, office, and retail uses along an improved Georgia Avenue streetscape designed to make the area more attractive to pedestrians and less oriented around the needs of automobiles.
The problem is that the General Services Administration will retain 32.5 acres along the northern edge of the campus, and any prospective federal agency tenant for this space might well try to surround its buildings with a hermetically sealed security perimeter.
Some of the people who live immediately to the north probably would oppose any effort to reconnect the grid by extending 14th Street across the campus to their neighborhoods. However, access for pedestrians and bicyclists will benefit them if redevelopment of Walter Reed succeeds in expanding the retail and restaurant options on Georgia Avenue both north and south of the campus.
Marketing MoCo to people and businesses in northern DC. A few years ago, Baltimore bought advertising space in Metro stations to pitch the idea that Baltimore is an accessible and affordable alternative to paying outrageous sums to buy a rowhouse on Capitol Hill or in Dupont Circle.
MoCo is a much more plausible choice than Baltimore for most District residents, especially for those who work in the Upper Georgia Avenue corridor. MoCo housing is not cheap, although Silver Spring is still a bargain compared to Bethesda or Chevy Chase (or Arlington, for that matter).
Our schools, however, give us a huge advantage not just among families with children but for anyone concerned about the value of their investment in housing. Our schools may be overrated and DC may (or may not) press forward with the reforms started by Michelle Rhee, but for now the gap in performance remains large.
The advantages of living in Silver Spring are so obvious that they ought to sell themselves, but let's not be shy about reminding people in DC about what we have to offer.
Silver Spring has a lot to lose if the redevelopment of Walter Reed and the improvements to the Georgia Avenue corridor run aground, and our county government should be working closely with the District to make these initiatives work.
Unfortunately, while we have a special office set up to coordinate the consolidation of Walter Reed jobs at Medical Center, we don't seem to be paying much attention to how Silver Spring might be hurt by the loss of Walter Reed or how we might benefit from cooperating with the District to address the gap it leaves.
In 1997, MoCo and the District cooperated to help create the Gateway-Georgia Avenue Development Corporation, which worked to spur revitalization of the area between south Silver Spring and Walter Reed, but the effort appears to have petered out. Our political and business leaders should refocus their attention with the idea that the parts of DC on our southern border have got to be an integral part of our economic development plans for the future.
Cross-posted at Citizens League of Montgomery County.
One of the Baltimore ads.
Transit
Bus garage at Walter Reed good for residents, DC budget
The federal government will soon vacate most of Water Reed hospital in northern DC, and DC officials are currently pondering potential uses and getting community input. Metro's proposal to build a new bus garage should be part of the final plan.
Western Bus Garage. Image from Google Street View.
Federal base closure rules restrict the uses to government and non-profit, so DC can't simply let developers build some condos and grocery stores on the site. It can be used for public health, prison, homeless assistance, seaports, and more. A seaport is probably not in the cards, but a bus garage would be a great use of some of the space.
Why does DC need a new bus garage? Its two bus garages in the northern part of DC are falling apart and neighbors would rather use the land for other purposes. The 175-bus Northern garage, along 14th Street between Buchanan and Decatur Street, needs a massive overhaul. However, the local community is strongly pushing to remove the garage entirely.
Meanwhile, the 138-bus Western garage occupies an enormous tract of land right on top of the Friendship Heights Metro, creating an empty block-long wall right on Wisconsin Avenue and heavy bus traffic on the smaller streets in the neighborhood, where the garage entrances lie. Many residents would love to see more street-activating uses on Wisconsin and remove the bus traffic.
However, these buses would have to go somewhere. Who wants a bus garage? Nobody wants one in their neighborhood, but Walter Reed represents a great opportunity. It's a huge site, and WMATA could build its garage in one of the interior spaces. Many buses could exit directly onto 16th Street, which is not a neighborhood street at all. Meanwhile, the Georgia Avenue frontage could get other uses that more directly serve residents on Georgia Avenue.
One potential site for a bus garage at Walter Reed. Images combined from WMATA and DMPED.
Alternately, WMATA has made some sketches of a bus facility that could front onto Georgia with a more attractive facade. However, putting it farther west seems to make the most sense.
The best aspect of this option is that it could return two significant parcels of land in dense neighborhoods back to the tax rolls. DC can't get tax revenue from Walter Reed itself, but it can get some from the Northern and Western garage properties. WMATA would sell those properties and use the money to fund the new garage, and DC could get stores, apartments and townhouses right on the growing northern 14th Street commercial corridor and atop the Metro in lively Friendship Heights.
If WMATA doesn't get to do this, they'll have to invest substantial resources into rehabilitating the existing garages, ensuring those stay where they are and annoy neighbors for another generation.
WMATA's long-term bus plan calls for closing Northern in 2014 and rehabilitating it until 2016. WMATA would temporarily move Northern's bus operations to the DC Village facility in Southeast DC, which will replace the Southeastern Bus Garage that closed in 2008. DC Village is scheduled to open in 2012 and will have enough capacity to handle the buses at Northern. However, WMATA will have to spend millions of dollars a year in extra fuel and driver pay to deadhead buses from DC Village up to routes in northern DC and southern Montgomery County, which translates into high costs for the local jurisdictions.
Summary of bus fleet and facility growth, from WMATA.
After Northern is rebuilt, they would close Western, shift its buses to Northern, and rehab Western until 2018. All three garages, as well as the others outside DC, are necessary if WMATA wants to have enough buses for the anticipated growth in ridership by 2020.
The Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development is rightly working with residents right around Walter Reed to identify the uses they'd prefer for the site. However, especially for the parcels that aren't immediately adjacent to residents or businesses, they should also consider the bigger picture. A new garage in the interior of the site would help residents in two other neighborhoods without harming the Walter Reed neighbors, bring in more money for the DC budget in the long run, and ensure that our bus service can continue to grow as more and more residents use transit.
Development
What should DC do with Walter Reed?
The District government has received many proposals from government agencies and non-profits for redeveloping 62.5 acres of the 113-acre Walter Reed campus in northern DC.
In 2005, the Pentagon decided to relocate the Walter Reed Army Medical Center to the campus of the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda. Last year, the State Department selected 18 acres on the west side of the campus to host foreign embassies, much like the former National Bureau of Standards campus in Van Ness.
The General Services Administration (GSA), which manages much of the Federal Government's office real estate, chose to keep 32.5 acres on the northeast corner of the site. The remaining 62.5 acres will go to the District for certain acceptable uses.
One would expect DC to auction the site to the highest private bidder, but the federal base closure process requires proposals from government agencies or non-
In April, the District selected Perkins + Will as the master planner of the city's allotment. The Deputy Mayor for Planning & Economic Development has posted all the proposals online.
More than half of the applicants propose a combination of affordable, workforce, senior and rehabilitative housing. Five applicants propose public charter schools and Howard University proposes relocating its medical schools and hospital from their current campus. DC Fire and EMS proposes to relocate Engine 22 to the site while DDOT proposes testing highway materials. Even WMATA proposes a building a new bus garage on part of the site.
Social Services:- Help USA: 75 units of permanent supportive housing for chronically homeless veterans
- So Others Might Eat: 277 units of rental housing for the chronically homeless, the elderly, the mentally ill, veterans, and others requiring rehabilitation
- Transitional Housing Corporation: 120 units of mixed-income affordable and workforce housing, 110-120 units of affordable housing for the elderly, 3500-4000 sq. ft. of office space for the program
- Zenith Community Arts Foundation: housing for 20 artists over age 50, an art gallery, art classrooms, parks
- Concerned Citizens: housing for seniors
- Manna, Inc.: 30 units of affordable and workforce housing
- DC Dept. of Housing and Community Development & DC Dept. of Mental Health: Artist housing, homeless housing, student housing, Section 8 housing, market-rate rental housing, first-time homes, and senior housing
- Veterans and Military Family Life Progress: two-year transitional housing for veterans
- DC Dept. of Human Services: family shelter and permanent supportive housing
- Urban Matters/ Emory Beacon of Light: 146 units of permanent supportive housing for veterans, the chronically homeless and families and 209 units of workforce housing
- Veterans and Military Family Life Progress: (unknown)
- Ayeni International Inc.: job training and emergency, transitional, and permanent housing for homeless and low-income families.
- DC Fire and EMS: Relocating Engine 22 and building a community service unit.
- DDOT: Materials testing and research laboratory
- WMATA: garage for 100 - 250 buses
- Building Hope: Charter school incubator facilities.
- Center City Public Charter Schools: New public charter school teaching pre-K through 8th grade
- Friendship Public Charter Schools: New public charter school teaching pre-K through 12th grade; 1,125 students, IB program.
- Latin America Montessori Bilingual: New public charter school teaching pre-K through 6th grade; 200 students.
- Washington Yu Ying Public Charter School: Relocation of existing school, expansion to teach pre-K through 12th grade; IB program.
- T & T Healthcare -(unknown)
- Howard University (and Howard University Hospital) - relocation of Howard University's existing hospital and medical schools.
The deputy mayor's office will soon determine which applicants are qualified to continue and, over the coming months, will award the site to one or several of the applicants. Since many of the applicants do not propose using the entire site and since the city has hired a planning firm for the site, it seems highly likely that Walter Reed will host several of these projects together.
What would you like to see at Walter Reed?
@ggwash
- Bikeshare is a gateway to private biking, not competition
- Judge denies injunction against closing schools
- Long-term closures: A solution to single-tracking?
- Metro policy for refunds after delays falls short, riders say
- M Street cycle track keeps improving, draws church anger
- Prince George's County struggles to get trails right
- Science Gateway plan brings urban approach to White Oak
Greater Washington
District of Columbia
