The Growler is chuckling over Duncan Blair's update on the Madison project at Wednesday night's ICCA meeting.
To paraphrase Queen Victoria, we are amused.
The reason the Madison project and the proposed Harris-Teeter has dragged on cannot be attributable solely to the City's delay in finalizing the Braddock Road Metro Small Area Plan. Despite the disclaimers that the City is not responsible for the delays, it's clearly been a struggle between the developers of the Madison (Capital Associates) and Planning & Zoning over project details.
And the prospect of a grocery store is the catnip that the developers are dangling in front of Parker-Gray residents, hoping that in their indignation they will march en masse to Planning Commission or City Council and clamor that the developer be granted all of its demands.
The fact is, the project last summer was starting to look like a Frankenstein development. It would have been a huge looming mass on Henry Street with parking at grade and the grocery store in the basement. Yes, this may be the model for Harris-Teeter sites in other urban sites but would look less than elegant, even in our hood. Can anybody say "Tyco Building" (Fayette & Cameron)?
The City has every right to grapple with developers and wrest changes that are in the best interest of its citizens. Love or hate Eileen Fogarty, that's what she's paid to do.
So now the building is starting to assume more reasonable proportions. The mass has been shaved down (meaning a reduction in the number of residential units), and broken into two structures with open space between. Parking will be submerged below ground (at more expense to the developer) and the grocery store will sit on the surface.
Of course all developers hate these concessions, which usually translate to a reduction in profit. It's therefore natural to cast around for citizen surrogates to use in the negotiations.
Last summer the developers found a cat's paw in the Braddock Lofts group, which went ballistic on their behalf by proclaiming to one and all that if the City didn't relent, Capital Associates would do a by-right townhouse development with no grocery store. When the proposed rally to support the developer last summer garnered only a handful of participants, the Potemkin village of grassroots outrage clattered to the ground.
And who would have problems with a new townhome development around here anyway?
Now the developer may be casting about for other surrogates, and ICCA — the Miss Roundheels of civic associations, a group that can't keep developers at arm's length — looks like an easy mark.
Interestingly, the new Whole Foods at Duke and Holland Lane has demonstrated that retail at grade with parking below works, which undoubtedly strengthened the City's hand. In addition, the arrival of Whole Foods — as pricy as it may be — may have slaked some of the neighborhood's thirst for local convenience retailing.
So putting aside the background noise of complaints about rising materials costs and construction difficulties, the Growler believes the developer will ultimately proceed with the Madison and deliver Harris-Teeter while the City and Parker-Gray will get a better project.
And looking back we will all be amused together.
5 comments:
"Interestingly, the new Whole Foods at Duke and Holland Lane has demonstrated that retail at grade with parking below works, which undoubtedly strengthened the City's hand."
Poor example, Growler. The difference with Whole Foods is that its not in the middle of the ghetto. Thats why you dont see grocery stores in Southeast DC for example.
I believe thr primary reason Harris Teeter and Capital Associates proposed an underground store was to keep it accessible yet more well-protected against the outside social issues Uptown deals with on a daily basis.
I know no one likes to call Uptown a ghetto in the Peoples Republic of Alexandria, but that is what it is. Face facts.
Clarendon built Whole Foods above ground knowing that the neighborhood was being revitalized around it. Same for Fresh Fields in DC on Rhode Island Avenue.
The original reason Capital Associates proposed below ground was because they had already been told by the City there was no change in the status of the Bland projects. Harris Teeter themselves stated that they were reluctant to build a store above ground unless there was some buffer for the store and unless the City agreed to provide protective services.
They did not want some of the neighborhoods social problems (such as public drunkenness and noise) to be attributable to the new grocery store, as the old 7-11 on Powhatan was perceived.
The design as it stands now, frankly, is nice but its also stupider in context. P&Z actually was asking for outdoor dining on Henry Street, right where homeless people walk by to get to Carpenters Shelter. The split leaves an alleyway for the neighborhood riff-raff to hang out in. The store above ground now places a burden on the police to constantly place manpower in front of the store to prevent loitering and drunkenness.
Also, considering the Braddock Lofts group lives directly next to the proposed development, they do have some right to howl and scream. I dont believe they cared if Capital built the townhomes; it was more "build something". After all, wasnt this supposed to be in the Monarch originally?
I wonder if Growler has thought about the possible walk at night from West Street through the Adkins project to get to the store.....
Hey, dude, if you don't like living in a mixed-race, mixed-income, transitional neighborhood then perhaps you need to move. Not everyone wants to be an urban pioneer. Sweat equity takes a lot of time that many people don't have.
If you want an improved ParkerGray, you must make the time to clean up your own back yard (which you can more easily afford on this side of town). The City Bureaucracy and yes, some or many of your neighbors will never care, and often will make it harder than it should be. But you get it done.
A neighborhood has a chance to improve when enough residents who want a better place to live get out and do things to make it happen. You pick up trash that isn't yours, trim someone else's curb strip, nag the police, encourage your neighbors, and pester City Council.
I've shoveled snow off the sidewalk along my entire block, picked up beer bottles, needles, and even a diaper off the street, taken numerous vacation days to meet with apathetic or downright incompetent bureaucrats, and schooled police on the very laws my taxes pay them to enforce.
Parker Gray isn't totally up to snuff, but it is improving day by day, because ordinary people with exhausting day jobs put in lots of time. Because if you don't do something, it won't get done. Period.
Hey dude,
I think your post highlights the misperception that exists between Uptown (North Parker Gray) and the area that Growler seems to focus on (South Parker Gray), the area around the Spa Court and JH.
Its difficult for you to probably imagine what happens up here but suffice to say homeowners in the area do all they can to try and keep the neighborhood clean, the riff-raff off the street, etc...
I have no problem picking up all the trash that accumulates in my front area or around my house. The problem is, I cannot control what happens in places like Atkins or Bland. Nor can I go over there and just start picking up trash, or telling people to stop taking drugs on the playground. My neighbor is ARHA. They dont give a damn about any of their neighbors. You state: "when enough residents who want a better place to live get out and do things to make it happen" There are public housing residents who want a better place to live, but ARHA is the roadblock. They can't even get rid of the residents who don't give a crap (and despite what Growler seems to the think, there are plenty). The problem is Uptown can't transition or "mix incomes" or "mix races". The City won't allow it. They have mandated that most of it be locked up as "poverty in perpetuity". The brainiac in the Planning office that decided it might be a good idea to keep the Atkins projects directly in the path of people walking to the Metro deserves demotion to working at the local Dairy Queen for that birhgt idea. Walkable? Livable? Try walking that route yourself at night. Try looking at some of the trash. As soon as you pick it up someone else replaces it. There are trashcans all over the place and still, ARHA has to hire contractors 2 days a week to pick up their residents trash; not pick it up off the street from a can, actually pick it up wherever it lays, like prisoners do.
We would love to have something "done" The City and ARHA won't allow it. You tell me what we can do then ,dude. Strike? Protest? Complain?
Not sure what else can be done.
And this is not about gentrification, its about a standard amount of decency and community. Growler constantly talks about wanting SFH's by the Metro. Would she live in one of them across from Atkins? Would she dine across from the Bland projects?
Before lecturing those of us busting our humps trying to improve the neighborhood, understand what we have to deal with. We have to deal with the riff-raff, landlords who dont care, City leadership that is stubborn and unwilling to care, and special interests who seem to think locking 40% of the City's poor in Uptown is a great idea.
Now tell us again what we have to do?
The Growler makes no arguments for ARHA, but you're the one who decided to live directly opposite Andrew Adkins.
If things are so bad what is your motive for buying at the Braddock Lofts? There were and are plenty of other properties in the 500-700K range in Del Ray and Rosemont close-in to the Braddock Road Metro. For that matter, you could have bought a home elsewhere in Parker-Gray that was not so close to Adkins but still in close proximity to the King Street and Braddock Metros.
So tell us ...
I made that decision based on fairly straighforward assumptions that:
1. The City might actually enforce the laws they have in place, you know the ones like : NO LOITERING, NO DRINKING IN PUBLIC WHILE INTOXICATED, NO HARASSMENT OF METRO PASSENGERS, NO BEATING UP OF PIZZA MEN, NO TRESPASSING, KEEP NOISE BELOW 100 DECIBELS AT NIGHT, etc...
Worng on that one; I did not realize there were separate rules for the Inner City and everyone else.
2. The City would actually develop around the projects, in a medium to high density fashion, LIKE EVERY OTHER CITY IN THE REGION has done; its called smart growth.
They talk a good game, buts its obvious the City has no desire for this type development outside of Eisenhower and King.
3. The City would recognize that stuffing 40 percent of its poor in one area might not be the wisest course of action. Since DC, Arlington, Montgomery have all figured this out, I had hoped the City might recognize the value of developments like Chatham Square, even on a smaller scale, would have.
Fat chance there. The City instead appears to think everything is peachy in Uptown and we can just keep the status quo.
And why dont you answer the questions asked in the original posting? You never seem to draw any distinction between the Queen/West Street areas and Uptown. Nor do you ever mention any other Metro Stations that cluster huge swathes of poverty 1-3 blocks from their Metro Stations. And you make this strange assumption that Lofts owners or the Irmers want Starbucks, Gucci, and Federal-style townhomes across the street. Frankly, I love your SFH home idea for the whole area, if the City doesnt want high density here. Yet again, though, I would love to see how that experiment would turn out; I would love to see Growler living next to Bland or Atkins. Might change your opinion.... Also, walk those routes closest to the Metro, like from Del Ray or Rosemont. Ask those neighbors what they think of it; I already have asked. Ask the cops how many stops they make at the 7-11, along Braddock, along Mt Vernon, etc....
You move to a place because you want to build a neighborhood and make it livable, regardless of race, income or class. There are residents here who regardless of income, give a damn. There are residents of all races who are fed up.
But again, "Dude" argues that this is a transitional neighborhood and its all our fault for not "working hard enough" The main complaint is the City and ARHA dont want to allow transition; try working against them.
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