Army pulls back on plans for D.C. retirement home
By Prabha Natarajan
Staff Reporter
Washington Business Journal Aug. 17-23 2007
The Armed Forces Retirement Home, bowing to community pressure, will undertake a more restrained redevelopment of its D.C. campus than initially planned. The retirement home, an independent agency overseen by the Defense Department, scaled back its master plan to 6.5 million square feet from an initial 9 million square feet on 125 acres near Brookland. The change of plans was announced at a National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) meeting Aug. 2. The change was made in response to concerns raised previously by the commission, city planners and the community.
The new plan includes 398,000 square feet for use by the retirement home, 4.3 million square feet of mixed-use development on 77 acres, 880,000 square feet of residential units with some retail on 8 acres, and 750,000 square feet of residential and office space on 25 acres. Crescent Resources of Charlotte, N.C., the developer of the project's first phase, does not expect the size to change drastically from the one initially agreed upon. However, the price that Crescent pays to lease the land may rise as the retirement home tries to make up for the decrease in the size of the development.
The Armed Forces Retirement Home agreed three years ago to open its doors to the public and hired the General Services Administration to figure out ways to bring private development to its land as a way to pay for the home's programs. The retirement home expects the number of veterans seeking its services to increase in the aftermath of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Also, the home does not have the $389 million needed to fix existing buildings and structures over the next decade.
The campus, originally 500 acres, has shrunk to about half that size because of land donations for roads, hospitals and schools, said Tim Cox, its chief operating officer, in a statement to the NCPC. The master plan will preserve 112 acres of green space, including a golf course.
The Armed Forces Retirement Home knows it may not be able to do everything, said Chris Black, a consultant working with the home on the project. "The master plan is a blueprint for the next 25 years," she said. "We want to do as much development that can be reasonably done to maximize revenue for the home."
The home and Crescent Resources have spent the past year talking to community groups and D.C. officials. "The community certainly appreciates a smaller development," said Deborah Cram, Ward 5 neighborhood planner. "I don't know how it affects their bottom line, but it is what the community wants."
It's not the only thing the community wants.
Washington Central Parks, a grass-roots organization founded in Petworth on the other side of the campus in Ward 4, hopes to convince the retirement home to convert the western side of its property, slated for residential development, to green space. The organization's goal is to connect the soldiers' home with the McMillan reservoir and Fort Totten sites through a park, bike, and trail system.
"What we are suggesting will strengthen the fabric of the city," said Reyn Anderson, co-founder of Washington Central Parks. Her organization is working to create a public-private partnership that would pay the soldiers' home for lease of the land. "We would like to solicit funds and see defense companies and contractors pony up," Anderson said. Those companies have a moral obligation to war veterans and should pay for their recuperation and retirement at the veterans' home, she said.
The idea is grand, but whether it is reasonable is a question that remains unanswered, Crain said.
"If Central Parks has the money and can lease the land from us, we would be happy to lease it to them," Black said. "They don't have the money. The city says it doesn't have the money. The National Park Service says it doesn't have money. I am not sure how we can have a park then. The desire for a public park doesn't trump veterans' needs."
The master plan needs approval from the NCPC and is likely to be heard this fall.
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