Last night ANC 5B held a special meeting to discuss and vote on Thursday's zoning hearing regarding the Gateway Market Residences. The ten of twelve commissioners were present with one arriving after the vote, so nine of us voted. Our options were, support completely, support with certain conditions required, or oppose. The idea of supporting with certain conditions [conditional approval] was what I proposed. My proposed conditions appear below. The idea of giving conditional approval was rejected, so we only voted on support, or don't support [basically the same thing as oppose]. Here's the final breakdown of votes-
5B01 William Shelton [Chair]- support
5B02 Patricia Brown-Daniels- absent
5B03 Raymond Chandler- absent
5B04 Rayseen Woodland- arrived too late to vote
5B05 Rosetta Davis- abstain
5B06 Wilhelmina Lawson- support
5B07 David Hooper- support
5B08 Elise Bernard- oppose [against supporting]
5B09 Jacqueline Manning- support
5B10 India Henderson- support
5B11 William Myers- support
5B12 Maude Ababio- support
So the final vote was 7/9 to support unconditionally.
Some other interesting things about the meeting-
The developer's lobbyist [John Ray] sent one of his employees [Ms. Ang] to the meeting to answer questions, but she couldn't answer everything, including questions previously raised at the zoning hearing [she was there], or ANC 6C meeting. She planned to give no presentation, and came unprepared to make one. I asked her about this prior to the meeting and she informed me that no presentation was necessary because we were only here to vote. Consequently, she made no presentation. She did very briefly talk about the project, but this was only after I asked Ms. Ang a question, and people in the audience chimed in saying that they didn't have any information about the project.
I'd like to point out that when John Ray's group recently attended the ANC6C meeting they had a different, and well informed presenter who not only gave a thorough presentation, but was able to answer questions. While it is true that this group has appeared before our ANC before [but only once in the past year and a half], I think it was a bit of the slap in the face that they didn't give another presentation immediately prior to the vote. Such a presentation would have been important for three reasons-
1. the constituents present did not feel they had sufficient information about the project. It is, after all, the ANC's job to respresent the interests of its constituents.
2. there have been modifications to the project since the last hearing before the Zoning Commission. Ms. Ang was unable to explain what any of those modifications might be.
3. We had a new commissioner present who has not received any of the mailed materials on the project, or seen a presentation on it, so she had no familiarity with the project, and simply voted blindly.
Here is soe information about the conditions I wanted inserted into our letter of approval-
1. Follow the Small Area Plan- ANC 5B orginally requested that the Office of Planning undertake the Small Area Plan. According to the Office of Planning's wesite [this is not directly quoted], The puropose of the Small Area Plan is to create a conceptual land use program. It aims to determine the viability of the wholesale functions and determine the best and highest use of the Market site. The goal is to provide a vision and strategic development framework for future development of the Market and adjacent properties. The Small Area Plan will provide recommendations for height, use, massing, density, zoning, and functionality. The Small Area Plan is important because it provides a forum for thoughtful community input. A series of meetings have been held as a part of the Small Area Plan. The Small Area Plan was paused at the request of this developer, who now claims that they need to bypass the Small Area Plan because it is taking too long. The Small Area Plan is scheduled for completion in September, and would have already been completed had it not been paused. During the meeting Ms. Ang said the Office of Planning had said this building was “not inconsistent with the Small Area Plan.” As part of the Small Area Plan the Office of Planning recommended not constructing residential units next to industrial uses, which is exactly what this developer is doing.
2. Change Retail from inward facing to outward facing- current plans call for floor to ceiling exterior windows, so as the Office of Planning pointed out, inward facing retail would result in the view from the street of the back of business' storage rooms. That's hardly a very inviting view for those on the street. This was an issue raised at both the last zoning hearing, and the ANC 6C meeting, but Ms. Ang was unable to tell me whether there had been any change to the plan.
3. The developer agree to not go to the City Council on other projects in the Market without ANC approval of community benefits packages.
4. The developer not pursue Project Labor Agreements on other projects in the Market- the deal here is that these agreements result in requirements that workers be union members. The vast majority of DC contractors and laborers in the construction field are non-union workers. This is especially true when you look at minority contractors in DC. When you enter into agreements like this you effectively lock out most otherwise eligible DC workers.
5. Increase the diversity of the affordable units- right now the twenty percent of affordable condo units are all affordable for people earning 80 percent of the Area Median Income. Many other developments stagger this with some units being affordable to people making considerably less that 80 percent of the AMI.
Other important considerations that I mentioned-
1. This is a condo development. right now the condo market in DC is not good. Even Senate Square, a project in a more desirable location, and built by an experienced developer [the developer behind the Gateway Market Residences has NO development experience], has been forced to go apartment and now sits largely empty. The NoMA area is a site of heavy condo construction. An economist hired by the Office of Planning stated that he felt that residential units on that site were not viable economically.
Our ANC will send a separate non-binding letter addressing the concerns that I raised at the meeting. Our attorney will draft the letter.
I'd like to address something our Chair said last night that I thought was very misleading. He strongly implied that ANC 6C had wrongly gotten involved in this project and that such involvement from a neighboring ANC was, as he put it, unheard of. That isn't at all true. As the Zoning Commission noted at the last hearing, talking to, and seeking approval from neighboring ANCs is standard for such projects when they abut the other ANC. Our Chair also implied that ANC 6C was taking things away from Trinidad. Nothing could be further from the truth. I have a copy of ANC 6C's conditional letter of support and it doesn't quest a single amenity for ANC 6C. It only talks about the building, preserving desirable aspects of the Market, the retail plan, support of small local businesses who are tenants in the building, and diversity in the AMI for the affordable units.
We had a decent crowd last night. I'd be interested in hearing from those in the audience.
The zoning hearing is tomorrow night. Here are the details-
The Zoning Commission Hearing-
When: 7:30pm Thursday July 24th
Where: Office of Zoning Hearing Room
441 4th Street NW Suite 220-south
Anyone can attend. Anyone wishing to testify for three minutes can sign up at the hearing.
You can read more about the Gateway Market Residences and the New Town project [with which the Residences are strongly linked] here.
24 comments:
I think looking at the big picture, what last night's meeting shows is that the ANC needs to create a web site (which the chair promised to do) (I think they should start out just using that Google group thing) And it needs to start publishing at minimum the agendas and minutes (and probably relevant materials that are discussed/displayed/submitted) from each meeting so that when something like this comes before the ANC and people complain that they haven't heard of it before, they can be referred to the website.
I know there are people within the ANC boundaries that don't have internet, so the same materials can be kept in paper form in the office as well.
I left that meeting feeling slightly railroaded yet could not bring myself to complain because a) a majority of the commissioners said that all the details had been discussed before and b) I wasn't at a lot of past meetings so can't say that that's not the case.
I do know my commissioner has never discussed the project with me so his assertion that his constituents supported the project rang a bit hollow with me.
PLEASE people...if you live in Trinidad and have an interest in public service, consider running for ANC commissioner. As last night's meeting shows, there are real issues on the table and it would be a good resume item. There is information posted on the front page of Trinidad-dc.org and updates will be coming out periodically on the Trinidad Yahoo group email listserv.
whew!
glad to hear the results of the vote!
i was getting worried that folks would be stalling this for eons, and eons.
way to go!
A) Senate Square was forced to go APARTMENT, not condo.
B) ANC6A has a really great website. I'm not sure who took on the project, but it's a great resource. It may have been developed by Tommy Wells' people. http://anc6a.org/
Tom,
good catch, thanks.
Poo Poo,
I'd be shocked if you ever attended a single meeting on the Gateway Market Residences. I can definitively say that I didn't see you in the audience last night. We had nary a single short haired blond Brazilian with glasses in attendance.
Senate Square was not forced to go to apartments. With changing market conditions and about only 15% of the units were under contract. That is why it went apartment
Besides Poo, the conditions I requested wouldn't really have slowed down the project. The three substantive conditions that would have impacted the project were either already requested by ANC 6C, or due to be completed in 2 months [the Small Area Plan], during which time they could have continued with the project. Regarding the Small Area Plan, it's an equities argument. You can't ask for something to be delayed, and then complain about the delay that you caused. Particularly not when every other developer will be required to wait for the Small Area Plan. It isn't fair, or proper. And I was going to vote to support if the conditions had been inserted.
thank you elise for trying to do the right thing. i am surprised that all the other members are so totally on board with whatever the developer wants ... but maybe that's naive.
Charles,
were you at the meeting? If so, I'd be interested in your impressions.
Yeah, that was the one weak link in Elise's points of concern against the project last night. Building the units as condos doesn't really pose any extra risk to the community of them lying there empty...the developer can "apartmentize" them if necessary based on the market. I think the barrier to occupancy would be price not apartment vs. condo.
Otherwise I found Elise's presentation pretty compelling and reasonable and I think the commissioners who voted yes instead of taking the time to create a conditional approval let their constituents down.
Rob,
where I wanted to go with the weak market for condos thing is that if they go apartment-
1. that's other than what was agreed upon.
2. this project is the cornerstone of the entire Market development. If they don't plan it well and it sits empty that will dampen other development in the area. Honestly, if a developer has lots of vacant condos or apartments, that does have an impact on other non-residential stuff in the area. Look at 3rd and H.
Rob,
I also know that I spoke quickly during the meeting. I was concerned, particularly since the Chair threatened three times to cut me off, that I wouldn't get to mention all of my points. I spoke for maybe five minutes total during the meeting, which doesn't seem excessive to me. But because I felt pressed I wasn't able to give the full context to my comments, and I regret that. But as an attendee, I think you saw the circumstances at the meeting. For those not present, I was the only commissioner who raised any questions or concerns, and the entire meeting ran for 52 minutes, so it wasn't like we were dragging on [most of our meeting run 2 hours or more].
Inked you talk about Senate Square sitting empty and the market conditions for condos...
How do you think the current situation affects Abdo's slated project along NY ave corridor?
Do you think that will be delayed until we see market conditions improving?
Trinidad Home Owner
Trinidad Homeowner,
I don't know. I'm not an economist, or a real estate expert. I mentioned the Senate Square project because I'm familiar with it and it is pretty close to the Gateway Market Residences site.
The cornerstone of this development isn't CONDOS!! Don't you see that. It is a MIXED use facility, condos going stale has ZERO I repeat ZERO impact on another developer taking on a project near by. With that said with market conditions now I do not expect a developer to put strictly a condo building but it would not deter one from a mixed use or commercial facility.
I wish all of you understood Real Estate 101!!
From reading this post it seems that the ANC atleast understands RE better than these posters
The Senate Square project was financed 5 years ago with different market conditions! They already had approval and if they didn't go through would have lost more money. The project was slated for condo and switched over when market conditions soured and they needed help with carrying their investment.
Recently they sold a portion at an ungodly price per square foot to an investor.
This only has bearing on future large scale residential development and would not deter a mixed use facility or a purely commercial developer to build
The cornerstone of this building isn't residential, but if the retail is also flawed you've got a problem. Can you explain how it would be good to have a building there that can't sell or rent residential units, and has a bad retail plan?
Mr. Shelton doesn't think the 6C ANC should be involved? Sorry, but 6C04 is right across the street from the development, MUCH closer than Shelton's own 5B01.
Unless there's now an invisible barrier preventing people from crossing Florida -- good luck 5B folks getting to "our" metro station. More room on the platform for us I guess.
Educate yourself, instead of attacking people why don't you lay out this real estate wisdom you possess?
How about explaining to us why the assertion that most of Senate Square's units sitting unoccupied has zero impact on developers who want to put retail next door to it...retail that presumably would look to Senate Square occupants to be frequent customers. Maybe that logic is wrong, but explain why it's wrong.
And before you start typing take a look above the comment box at the blurb about being polite.
Educate yourself...You need to understand Blogging 101...People simply having a discussion...No one claiming to be experts...well maybe except for you...
But I know for one thing, when you have thousands of empty condo units sitting unsold, it must affect other projects, more so when they are within a mile or two from each other...
Trinidad Home Owner
Sigh, I missed the meeting, I was buying another house. Over the few months/years I have pulled in and out of interest in these projects on Florida - Been more worried about crime and improving city services on my tiny strip in Trinidad. I think my ANC really has never spoken to us about the project, we seem to get more about the maybe apartment building on at the Hechinger site.
ANC 5B needs a change in leadership that is clear, however, be that as it may a vote was cast. 5B approved.
Having been in DC all my life I am not surprised. I am rather surprised it got this far. I am sure all who fought, fought a good fight. However, at times I wasn't sure what the opposition was all about. Not that I can't comprehend it or that it was too complicated, but the matter was not turned in to a slogan or message people could carry with them. It is hard to transport interlockingly complex matters into sound bites, yet that is what is required to fight against the tide of elected officials in such a dysfunctional body of government. Simply making a case at a meeting really is too late. It's like going to an execution and then making call to the Governor, and hoping he picks up. By the time you get to the electric chair its too late. The time for opposition was prior to the meeting, I say that as someone fairly intelligent, ethical, and well aware of many of the players on the field. It would have taken a title wave caused by a plate shift to beat them at their game. Such waves, and such plate shifts take time and planning.
In the end, while people here wont agree with me, or may insult me by telling me I am some one ignorant of the details, in the end the handwriting was on the wall, and the best efforts of all involved could not stop it. The best thing for all parties is to lick their wounds and move on. Not to say it isn't a good fight, but sometimes you win, and sometimes you don't.
This was the latter.
-Robby
"Recently they sold a portion at an ungodly price per square foot to an investor. "
Anonymous, have you got more info on that? I too hate seeing the Senate Square condo/apts go empty, so I'd love to know more detail about any sales or efforts to fill.
Inked:
Are there drawings or architectural renderings out there anywhere?
I appreciate the detailed coverage, but without being able to visualize it's hard to get an idea of scale, how ugly the buildings will be (or not be), etc.
Hillman,
http://www.gatewaymarketandresidences.com
I've got a couple of books of plans. This website is the only thing online.
Robby,
we actually came very close to winning on this one. The SMD Commissioner [Lawson] shifted her position during the meeting and that carried some of the other votes with it. That meeting was far from the first time I had raised concerns about the project. I've written about them, discussed them in public meetings, attended hearing on the issue, met with the developers, and had closed-door ANC discussions about all of this for months.
The point of tonight's zoning hearing is that the Commission might hear something it likes in a comment, and that's all it takes for them to look at making a change. I don't think this is about licking any wounds. It's about just trying to push for the best project can get. And even though we carry the vote I don't feel that we failed at the meeting.
Why object to the PLA? Have you been into local union halls in Washington DC?
Many are DC residents and minorities. Some of the mechanical trades are more heavily from the suburbs, but the "basic trades" laborers, carpenters, operators have many dc residents. I think the points on the PLA talking points are taken straight from the local ABC who has contractors who just don't want to pay more to their workers, provide healthcare, or any sort of retirement benefit.
Would you want to work outside until you are 60 doing heavy manual labor, have your body start weakening, and have no retirment pension to fall back on?
Post a Comment