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Sand is turned — but strong opposition remains — at McMillan site

Wednesday, December 7, 2016

Washington Business Journal by Karen Goff


District officials turned over ceremonial sand at the former McMillan Sand Filtration Plant on Wednesday, saying they were excited to get started on the $720 million redevelopment of the 25-acre D.C.-owned parcel.

McMillan is a project 30 years in the making, Mayor Muriel Bowser said. The opposition, led by Friends of McMillan Park, is at least a decade old and is currently driven by the group's ongoing appeal of the McMillan zoning approvals.

The plan for McMillan— a historic site bounded by North Capitol, First and Channing streets and Michigan Avenue NW — calls for roughly 1 million square feet of medical office space from Trammell Crow, 531 apartments and a 52,000-square-foot Harris Teeter from Jair Lynch Real Estate Partners and 146 townhouses from EYA. There will be 134 units of affordable housing, as well as a “walking museum,” a plaza and a playground. Members of the development team — collectively called Vision McMillan Partners — attended but did not take part in the formal groundbreaking.

The District's role in the project is to develop an 8-acre central park and a 17,500-square-foot community center, as well as prepare the overall site for vertical construction. Historic preservation and infrastructure work will take 18 to 24 months, said Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development Brian Kenner.

“This project has a significant amount of stabilization and preservation that has to be done,” Kenner said. “There's a really long lead time for that work. Then we can get to the demolition and some of the vertical part that comes with the development.”

Kenner said questions about the pending court case and the D.C. Auditor’s critical report on the McMillan procurement have been answered.

“What we have always said is we don’t want to get out in front of the court decision,” he said. “It is an appeal of the mayor's agent and the zoning commission, which have already ruled on this issue. The auditor’s report has been brought up before. We have answered that before. Council has answered that, the heads of economic development from the last three administrations have answered that, and we feel comfortable and confident this project is going to be a great success for the community.”

McMillan opponents say the high-density zoning and tall buildings are inconsistent with D.C.'s comprehensive plan and that demolition is inconsistent with the protections McMillan should be afforded as a landmark. They have floated multiple alternative visions from park space to underground mushroom farming. A handful of opponents protested outside of the ceremony.

“A groundbreaking usually is to build something, and this groundbreaking is to destroy a part of African-American and D.C. history," said Carole Lewis Anderson, who has been active in Friends of McMillan Park. "It is exceedingly sad to a lot of us who have fought to have this part developed with the history retained and developed for the community and the needs for the area.”

Vision McMillan Partners earned Historic Preservation Review Board approval earlier this year for changes to the design, including the removal of a promised fountain in favor of a grand staircase.

Bowser, who grew up close to the filtration plant that has been closed since 1986, said McMillan has special significance for her.

“I am happy to celebrate our progress at the site,” she said. “For years, my mother would say, ‘When are they going to DO something about that place?’ When is now. Now we begin to realize those opportunities to save and preserve historical resources and create a beautiful park and wonderful places for people to live. While we celebrate the start of activity, we know there is still a lot more to do.”

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/news/2016/12/07/sand-is-turned-but-strongopposition-remains-at.html